DBS: Fate of the Universes Saga
by ProjectAzathoth
Summary: This will be part of a retelling of several Dragon Ball series, including Z and GT. This saga includes the "Universal Survival" and "Universal Revival" arcs. Different sagas and series might be written out of order.
1. Prelude to Tournament

Goku, Master Roshi, Krillin, Piccolo, Gohan, Vegeta, Freeza, No. 17, No. 18, and Buu appeared in the arena, and the aura around them faded. With them were Beerus, Whis, Shin, and the Elder Kaioshin. Beerus took a deep breath.

"Here we are," he said. "Remember the strategy, all of you, and try not to screw things up."  
Goku tilted his head and half-shrugged. "Screw things up? What d'ya mean? What problems have I caused that-"

Just about everyone seemed ready to speak.

"-that I didn't end up fixin'?"

The group contemplated for a moment, and Piccolo responded. "What about when you couldn't defeat Cell, and you made Gohan, who was eleven years old at the time, fight him?"

"But I _helped_ him defeat Cell! That counts, right?" Goku insisted, to which his son rolled his eyes.

"What about, oh, our fight with Zamasu," Vegeta said, "that _just_ happened, where you ended up having to call Zeno?"

"We defeated Black without his help!" Goku defended.

"You say 'we.' It was," Vegeta chuckled proudly, "mainly my son."

Elder Kaioshin interjected. "It doesn't matter who defeated who, or who screwed what up in the past. What we should all focus on is winning this tournament."

"That's right," said Whis, looking around. "If you want to argue with someone, have it be someone from one of the _other_ teams."

Gohan was on the lookout for any troublesome-looking fighters to report to his friends. A sharp poke to his back made him jump a little, eliciting smug laughter from one behind him. He turned around to meet the glaring, hunched-over Lavender.

"Don't think our fight is going to end in a draw this time, Universe 7," he warned, "let alone with your victory. I'll be using my poison with just enough care not to kill you."

Gohan's face was blank. "Alright, that's good for you," he said. "I don't plan to lose either, but you're not my main target."

Lavender raised a hand and infused it in a display of poison. "It's a mistake for you to underestimate me!" he spat. "You got lucky last time you fought. Don't think your friends will save you from me, they'll be too busy dealing with the other Universe 9 fighters."

Gohan raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, thanks. Why don't you just keep telling me what your strategy is?" he patted his gi, which had no pockets. "Hold on, do you have a pen and paper?"

Lavender brought a fist right up to Gohan's face. "Don't be a smartass with me, boy. We've perfected out fighting instinct; we had to in order to survive in Universe 9." He backed off a little. "We've earned victory. What have _you_ gone through?"

There were a couple of ways Gohan could respond. He could have said "my father died twice" or "I saved the world when I was eleven" or even "I've done a lot of studying" but he really didn't feel like continuing this confrontation. He replied with "Well, only time will show the winner."

A few of the other teams could be seen around the arena. The closest one was Team Universe 10. It consisted of, mainly, shirtless muscled men and a few flying fighters, but one creature caught Team Universe 7's collective eye more than anything else. The thing's legs resembled that of a spider crab, and its body that of an ant. It was bright orange, covered in small black dots, and had a bumpy, chitinous surface. Its head was humanoid. The creature was scuttering around and conversing with its team when it noticed Team Universe 7. It snapped towards them and observed with wide, unblinking eyes. Then it separated its jaws by over a foot, producing a cascade of saliva and revealing a set of gray teeth.

In a friendly enough voice, it hissed "Hey there, my name's Carl. I look forward to having some great fights!"

"Ooh!" cried Goku, "That guy looks tasty!" Carl frowned at this.

Buu scrunched up his face and shook his head. "Buu no think that looks tasty at all."

Freeza turned to Goku. "Saiyans," he spat. "I like crustaceans, and I may even be inclined to eat them live, but that? Really?"

"Yeah," Goku said, "like a lobster, or fried scorpion!"

Carl lifted one of his front legs. A short tentacle slithered out of a hole between the pincers, which he pointed at Goku. "I find that highly offensive," he said.

While this was going on, Krillin was doing his best to keep himself from crapping his pants. Carl must have taken his trembling as a show of excitement, for he turned his gaze upon Krillin, gave him a thumbs up with his tentacle, and winked. Something oozed from it, and Krillin stared, whimpering.

"Sticky," remarked Carl. "Be useful for keeping in the arena."

"No, it is not the time to get scared!" Beerus demanded, turning Krillin around. "You probably won't even end up having to fight him, so just focus on someone else."

Beerus smiled at Rumsshi. "Boy, you picked some real winners, didn't you? Just scraped together whatever fighters looked tough, without any regard for skill or experience."

"Oh," said Rumsshi, with a sarcastic smirk, "I'm sorry, I thought this was the Tournament of Power, not the Tournament of Experience."

"Well," Beerus retorted, folding his arms, "it's a good thing my Universe's team has both of those things, isn't it?"

Rumsshi clenched a fist. " _Your_ Universe's team, your Goku, is the one to thank for this entire stupid tournament!"

A high-pitched voice from above interjected. "Stupid?" it repeated.

The arguing gods felt a chill run down their spines. Rumsshii was shaking and Beerus' fur stood on end. Beerus turned around and faced the speaker with a nervous grin. "Z-Zeno Sama!"

Zeno continued. "What's stupid about it?"

Rumsshi caught his gaze and frantically stammered out an explanation. "N-No, Zeno-Sama! I meant 'stupid' as in, as in..."

"As in 'stupendous!'" Beerus supplied, sweat dripping down his face.

Zeno craned his neck. "What's stupendous mean?"

"It means really, uh, cool," Rumsshi said, "and amazing!"

Zeno considered this for a moment. "Yeah," he agreed, nodding. "It is gonna' be really cool."

Beerus and Rumsshi looked at each other with sighs of relief. Several members of their teams had split off to peruse the arena. Buu had his head up and was sniffing the air. He followed the enjoyable scent to its origin, Team Universe 2. "You girls smell like candy!" he said, pointing.

Sanka Ku's face melted into a pleasant smile. "That's right. Thank you!"

Buu put a hand to his mouth. "Are you using the stuff Hercule told Buu about, mhhmm..." he thought hard, "perfume?"

"No!" Sanka Ku answered, snapping her fingers. "It's just the aroma of our love."

Prum slid into the conversation. "I can respect any man who loves his candy. What's your name?"

"Me Buu!" Buu cheered.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Mibu," Prum replied. "I'm Prum. But my question for you is: What do you love the most, _besides candy_?"

For a moment, Buu considered saying "more candy" but decided on "Buu love best friend Hercule!"

"Great answer!" Su Roas shouted, clapping. Tears welled in her eyes.

"It's a shame we have to fight as enemies," Zarbuto said. "You would make a great citizen of Universe 2."

Buu and the members of Team Universe 2 continued exchanging their greetings and bits of wisdom. Heles was studying Buu intently. She turned to Pell and asked "Doesn't he look familiar?"

"He does," Pell said, "but I can't quite put my finger on it."

Heles scratched her head. "Like someone we knew a long time ago..."

Vegeta, arms crossed, was trying to tune out the chatter all around him. The sooner the tournament started, the sooner he could get home. There was one voice, however, that kept shouting and eventually broke through his focus. "What?" he asked impatiently, then saw who he was speaking to. "Oh. Hello, Cabba."

"Hello, master!" Cabba greeted him with excitement. "Are you looking forward to the fighting?"

Vegeta bit his lip and looked down. "I'm looking _forward_ " he said, "to getting back home and spending some time with my newborn daughter."

If Vegeta were feeling a little more cynical, he would have thought Cabba was faking his reaction to this. The great, warm smile that spread across his face was a little too much. "Oh, congratulations! What's her name?"

Vegeta closed his eyes and smiled. "Her name is Bra. Bra Eschalot." At this, Cabba choked back laughter.

Vegeta didn't notice right away. He thought of Earth, of his home at Capsule Corp, and swore to himself to would be the best father to Bra he could be. He would not treat her like he did Trunks when he was a baby, and she would see at an early age that he cared for her, her brother, and her mother. What did I do to deserve such a loving family, he thought, before Cabba's giggling became apparent to him. "Is something funny?" he asked in confusion.

"Oh no, nothing!" Cabba's amusement faded and a pair of Namekians staggered up. They seemed a little winded before they even started walking and were surrounded in a pulsating aura.

"Ah," noted Vegeta, "it would make sense for Universe 6 to have a planet Namek as well." Piccolo heard this from a short distance away and approached in interest.

"Namekians, huh?" Piccolo asked. "For your sake, I hope you two are the finest Namekian warriors in your Universe."

The Universe 6 Namekians looked at each other and nodded. They could both sense what Piccolo had within him, and although it was impressive it didn't compare to what they had.  
"Trust us," one Namekian began.  
"We are," the other finished.

"Another band of monkeys and another tribe of slugs," Freeza said with a scowl. "How upsetting." Everyone's attention turned towards him. Vegeta and Piccolo regarded him with the usual distaste, while Cabba fidgeted and looked on with worry and distrust.  
Before anyone could say anything, Freeza spotted a figure nearby and spoke again. "But who is this charming combatant?"

Roshi gazed at the members of Team Universe 4 he could see. Something didn't feel right, aside from there only being 8 fighters present. Some of the fighters ignored him, some stared back at him blankly, and others were locked on to him with smug confidence. "I have a bad feeling about these guys," he said to a passing member of another team, who didn't respond.

The leader of Team Universe 4, however, did. "You should, old man," he said with a grin. "If you want my advice, you shouldn't bother going up against us. We plan to use our skills to take on opponents who actually pose a threat."

"Oh?" Roshi asked, cracking his neck. "And what makes you think this old man doesn't pose a threat to your octet of oddballs?"

Ganos chortled. "Careful, grandpa. You might pull something," he said, and nudged one of his teammates. "Hey, Majora, smell that?"

"I'm not going to play along, Ganos," Majora replied. There was an awkward silence.

"You're..." Nink began, then got stuck for a while, "...very elderly."

Team Universe 3 appeared before the Androids. The Daishinkan floated down. "You took your time getting here," he said with a calm smile. "We're going to get started soon."

Ea pushed up his glasses. He didn't seem intimidated. "Ah, yes," he said. "Well, we had to complete an update."

Several robots began beeping and Paparoni checked his staff. "Curious," he said, looking up at 17 and 18. "I detect an artificial energy in you two, but you both seem organic. What exactly are you?"  
"We're Androids," said 18.  
"We're Cyborgs," said 17.

Paparoni's confusion only grew, 18 looked annoyed, and 17 seemed pleased with himself. "Are those terms interchangeable in Universe 7," Paparoni asked, "because-"

18 dismissed the question with a wave. "Don't listen to him, he thinks he's a comedian."

The Preecho caught 17's eyes, and 17 smiled. The Preecho looked worried, but 17 said "Don't worry, man. You look Perfect."

Goku barreled across the arena, watching for one thing and one thing only. Eventually, he found it. Not too far off was Team Universe 11, standing together in all their red-and-black spandex glory. They didn't seem to be paying him any attention. Goku shot out a hand. "Hey, Toppo!" he shouted, bee-lining towards the group. "Jiren!"

Once the Pride Troopers heard Goku and saw his approach, several of them took some uneasy steps back. "So, this is him, eh?" Kahseral asked Toppo.

"I thought you were exaggerating when you said he was annoying," Cocotte said, "but he is kind of creeping me out."

Dyspo stuck up his nose and said "It's like he thinks he's entitled to fighting you specifically."

Toppo peered at the approaching Saiyan. "He was quite formidable when we fought in the Exhibition Match," he stated. "But, it is complete arrogance on his part to think he even deserves to fight Jiren."

Goku had arrived in front of Team Universe 11. "Toppo, how's it goin'?" he asked, and didn't wait for an answer. "So which one of you guys is Jiren?"

He scanned the Pride Troopers, since none of them answered. Looking at Tupper he said, "I bet it's you, right?"

Tupper seemed more flattered than irritated. He pointed out the real Jiren, who was avoiding eye contact.

Goku looked up at Jiren, grinning. "Yo, the big J himself!" he said, but even this failed to evoke a reaction. "So, how about before the Tournament starts, we-"

"Attention!" the Daishinkan called out from above. "The Tournament of Power will begin soon. Fighters, please locate your Universe's deities and gather there, away from the other teams."

Goku snapped his fingers. "Aw, man!" he cried, and hurried away. "I'll back for you, Jiren!"

Jiren watched him go. Once he was gone he looked at his team and said "Fool."

The 8 teams began to regroup. An impatient remark from Zeno struck fear into the Gods and Kais, who urged their fighters to hurry up. Soon enough all teams were at their stations, most of them about halfway between the center pillar and the edge. They were equidistant from one another.

"The Tournament of Power," explained the Daishinkan, "will last for 100 taks, or about 48 standard minutes. For those who are accustomed to different units, your Universe's deities can now remind you what that equals in your units." He gestured to the center pillar and continued. "The center pillar will descend as the tournament goes on. When the pillar is flush with the arena, the tournament will have ended."

He waved his hands in the air. "We are located in the World of Void, a realm of infinite emptiness. However, the material the arena is made of simulates the gravity, atmosphere and other conditions of all your home planets, so physiologically all of you will feel at home."

"You are considered eliminated when you are removed from the arena and are not able to return before falling. Flying techniques, however, cannot be used, except by those who can fly naturally. If this happens, you will appear in the stands by your Universe's deities and other eliminated fighters. Killing is not permitted and will result in disqualification. Once you appear in the stands you may no longer participate in any fighting, although you are encouraged to cheer on any allies of yours who are still in the arena."

At this point, many competitors considered the Daishinkan to be a little too wordy, but he went on. "If all fighters on your team are eliminated, you and your Universe will be immediately erased. The team with the most remaining members at the end of the tournament will be considered the winners, will not have their Universes erased, and the Most Valuable Player of that team will receive a wish on the Super Dragon Balls."

"Most importantly," he said with a smile, "make sure to give Zeno-Sama a good show."

The 10 members of Team Universe 7 were positioned in a tight circle, facing outwards. Each stood in the battle pose that fit them.

Goku thought of Universe 11 and of Toppo and Jiren. He had on his face the same smile he always has before an exciting fight. Master Roshi thought of all the years he spent in perversion and how it was holding him back the entire time. He stared into the distance with a look of discipline. Krillin thought of Carl and how, in some cruel turn of fate, he would probably end up being the one having to fight him. He tried to look as brave as he could, for 18, for Marron. Piccolo thought of the man he used to be and how meeting Goku and Gohan had changed him for the better. He looked stoic as usual.

Gohan thought of the cruelty of this tournament and how he felt like a toy, being threatened with erasure to provide amusement. He put on a hard expression instead of a somber one, because he couldn't let his emotions get in the way of protecting his friends and family. Vegeta thought of Bulma, Trunks and Bra, and how he just wanted to get this over with so he could see them again. He looked like he had no worries at all of losing. Freeza thought of obtaining the Super Dragon Balls and how he could gain power in so many ways. He licked his lips, ready to cause as much pain as he could without killing.

Android 17 thought of the animals on the island and how great it would be to put an end to mankind's abuse of nature. He held back his cockiness and overconfidence, giving off a cool gaze as he thought of strategy. Android 18 thought of her brother, husband, and daughter, and how they would each help her through this. She had the look of a woman not to be underestimated. Majin Buu thought of sweets and how, if the Universe is erased, there wouldn't be any more. He wore a game face shown to him by his best friend, Mr. Satan.

After making sure everyone heard him, the Daishinkan swung an arm up, raising it above his head. One moment, his facial expression and the position of his arm seemed to instantly change, ever so slightly.

"Let the Tournament of Power…" he declared, and brought his arm down with a chopping motion, "...commence!"

* * *

 _This is the ultimate battle royal for survival. With everything to lose, will the winner be decided by strength, talent, or sheer force of will?_

There are 8 Universes.

There are 80 fighters.

The 48-minute Tournament of Power has begun.


	2. The First Minute: Strategy Preperations

_After making sure everyone heard him, the Daishinkan swung an arm up, raising it above his head._

 _"Let the Tournament of Power…" he declared, and brought his arm down with a chopping motion, "...commence!"_

Instant chaos ensued. Several explosions occurred at once, and the arena was covered in domes of ki in various colors and sizes. It was if many people started charging their blasts before the Daishinkan spoke and were waiting to unleash them. Goku, Vegeta, Freeza, and Androids 17 and 18 immediately leaped off in their own directions.

Gohan brought his arm out, palm raised. He held his mouth agape. "Guys?!"

"Come on," Piccolo said as he swatted away a blast, "did you really expect those five to stick with the plan? They're going to fight however they want, there's no use trying to corral them."

Gohan sighed. "They could have at least pretended for a minute or two." He kicked away a ball of ki that was coming down at him from an angle. "I just hope my father takes this seriously."

They didn't turn to speak, only glancing at one another before putting their focus back in front of them. With the number of members in their circle cut in half, each of the remaining five would have to cover twice as much area.

Krillin laughed. "Gohan, your father may take fighting seriously, but-" he stopped when he noticed a beam coming towards the group that, if not stopped, would hit the back of Piccolo's head. He leapt into the air and blocked it, and continued speaking. "But he doesn't always take _fights_ seriously."

Several blasts were hitting Buu all over his fat frame, but his rubberlike body was able to reform instantly from any damage. "Buu gonna have fun fighting, too!"

"The Saiyans and the Androids should be fine on their own," Master Roshi assured. He destroyed an incoming flurry of blasts with a Kamehameha. "I just hope Freeza isn't planning anything terrible."

Team Universe 6 was already divided into a few sub-teams, and was rehearsing their strategy one last time. "I'll meet up with you all later," Hit said as he walked away from the team, waving behind his back. "Try not to get eliminated."

"Botamo and I will make a great combo," Auta Magetta said. The apprehensive look in his eyes suggested he might not fully believe this.

"Yes," agreed Botamo, who seemed wholly confident, "I will guard your hearing as you deal damage to the enemy."

Saonel and Pirina were breathing heavily. "We will wait a moment to become accustomed to these bodies," said the former.

The latter chimed in with "Then, we'll show everyone what they are capable of as we overwhelm the enemy with unexpected strength."

Dr. Rota was wearing a mischievous grin. "I will play…" he stifled laughter, "...s-support!"

Cabba gave him a strange look. "Uh, OK. We Saiyans will stick together and-"

"Kale and I can handle ourselves," Caulifla dismissed.

Cabba noted this by snapping his fingers and continued with unabated enthusiasm. "Alright, they will stick together! I'm sure Universe 6 can do this. As for me, Frost, I think we should set aside our differences and-"

He looked around. "Frost?"

All members of Team Universe 9, except for the Trio de Dangers, went off into a different direction. Basil the Kicker had his arms folded and was hopping up and down while kicking. He alternated between kicking his left and right legs, like he was doing the river dance. He had a wide grin on his face as he used his left leg to deflect ki blasts and his right to fire some off in the direction of the attacker.

"Our tactic of splitting up will allow us to whittle down the enemy Universes," he said. "The other teams will have left most of their fighters behind to defend their area, and sent only a few away to play offense. Our seven other fighters will make short work of them."

"Yes," Lavender agreed, launching several small, poisonous energy waves with a sadistic smile, "and when the other teams notice their attackers have been eliminated, they will foolishly send out another small group, which we will defeat just the same."

Bergamo, too, was smirking, holding his arms out and making a 'come here' gesture as incoming ki blasts hit him and increased his size. "We'll eliminate the other Universes faster that way, and if any of our fighters ends up in dangerous situation, they can just find us and regroup. Living in Universe 9 has taught us how important it is to play the offensive. We will be the ones to survive."

8 members of Team Universe 4 could be seen standing together in a circle, with their general color scheme of blue and green. Each was firing off a constant stream of attacks and the leader among them, Ganos, was giving a speech.

"The sheer strength of the competitors in this tournament can pose a great risk to our team," he said, with a finger raised. He shot a few blasts here and there with the other hand, but was focusing more on his speech. "My abilities directly increase my power, but that isn't the case for all of you. You must all make the best use of your abilities to defeat opponents who may be stronger than you. Fight cleverly; make this Tournament of Power a Tournament of Skill."

He put more effort into his blasts, using both hands, and spoke more casually. "How will all of you make the most of your abilities?"

Shantza, bobbing up and down in the air, spoke first. "If someone tries to throw me out of the arena, I'll float back in with my airjets."

Caway threw her chest in a way that made her breasts bounce a few times. "I'll make the male fighters think I'm a helpless damsel, and then form weaponry to crush them when they're least expecting it."

Dercori looked at the arena's light source, curling her lip and squinting. "This arena will be damaged in the coming battles. When that happens, I'll lure my opponents into the deepest and darkest cracks, where I will have the advantage."

Ganos nodded. He turned to what seemed to be a gap in the circle. "I understand you two are going to observe the other Universes until you're given the signal. By that time, you'll have learned a lot about the other combatants."  
He turned back so he wouldn't be exposed to attacks. "After you make your reveal, the enemy Universes will be on high alert. You'll have to cause as much devastation as you can with that first strike. If we apply our skills, Universe 4 will emerge victorious.

The members of Team Universe 10 stood (and flew) together, each one of them Murichum, legs apart and hands on his hips, was leading a cheer for his team. His muscles had been oiled. "What will we do?" he asked loudly. He spoke without pauses between his words.

"We will win!" replied everyone. They punctuated this by punching and kicking at the air.

"Will we show mercy?" Murichum continued.

"No we won't!" Some of the fighters shook their heads fiercely, and some crossed their arms in front of them.

"Who are we?"

"Team U 10!" They all leaned forward and shot their arms out with open palms (or wings.)

"That's right, men," Murichum agreed, adding "and Lilibeu. Team U 10! We will show every Universe what it means to be macho! One more time..."

They all crouched down and balled their fists and, in unison, cried out "Team U 10!" Everyone charged (and flew) off in their own direction after this, but not without a final battle cry.

"Let's go!" Murichum shouted.  
"I won't let you guys down!" Lilibeu promised.  
"By the power of flight!" Zium cheered.  
"For romance," Jirasen moaned.  
"Remember your training," Murisarm advised.  
"We're gonna' sweep the competition!" Methiop predicted.  
"Time to squash 'em!" Napapa bellowed.  
"Oh boy, can't wait to fight," Carl hissed.  
"This is our destiny," Jilcol declared.  
"My wife, my daughter, I will protect you." Obuni swore.

The robotic fighters of Team Universe 3 went into action immediately, their programming screaming to them the laws that dictate their action, in descending order of importance: Win the Tournament of Power at all costs, Do not get eliminated, Do not kill the other fighters. They split into two groups of two and one solo, then went off to find fighters to eliminate, each making their own series of beeps. This served as both a signal their programming had kicked in, and as a battle cry.

Maji Kayo stretched his legs out so they were three to four times the height of the rest of his body. "I just know I'm going to have a whole lot of fun," he said in a sadistic voice and strode off, covering a considerable amount of distance with each step.

"I'll go and dish out some justice, just like on the streets!" Katopesla announced and smacked his palm. He surveyed the explosions in the arena and jogged in the direction he deemed optimal.

"The numerous modes my suit can offer will each come in handy in different combat situations," he continued, talking to himself at this point. "In one encounter I might require additional speed, and in another, strength. Utilizing the best mode for any given situation will allow me to perform acts of justice more efficiently."

Nigrisshi chuckled and said "I'll let unwitting warriors come to me, and eliminate them one after the other." He sprinted and jumped about, firing off blasts from various directions and angles. Although there weren't any opponents in sight, he was also strafing and even doing the occasional bob and weave.

Paparoni and The Preecho were left. They stayed close together as they traveled, not bothering to move very quickly. "You can still give orders to our robots if you are eliminated," The Preecho said, "but it would be preferable for you to command them while you're still in the ring, actually feeling the combat environment. I'll have your back in battle, don't worry."

Paparoni spun his cane to deflect a few wayward blasts. "Good idea, Preecho, and thank you," he said. "I'll protect you from elimination as well. With the robots' programming and my guidance, I'm confident they will avoid elimination. We're going to need them if it ends up being necessary to execute Plan X. And, I don't mean to sound self-important, but it is also crucial I stay in the arena, in case even Plan X is not enough and we must resort to our final tactic. It's highly unlikely we'll have to do so, but if that's what it comes to, I can't imagine any Universe defeating us."

Team Universe 11 was moving as a group. Toppo led the charge, followed by Jiren and Kahseral. Vuon, Kunshi, Kettal, and Cocotte were in a square formation behind them, facing away from one another. Dyspo, Tupper and Zoiray circled them.

"This is a mess," Tupper remarked, blocking a barrage of green blasts with his hands, which he had petrified. "Everyone seems to be attacking non-stop, aimlessly."

Zoiray was rotating his small body at extreme speed while still maintaining the pace of the team's march. A multicolored array of blasts, in various sizes, were blown away by his whirlwind. "They must be testing the waters before any real fighting starts. After all, no one would want to end up using too much power, killing their opponent, and getting disqualified."

Vuon stared at his quadrant with fixed anticipation. Aside from the explosions in the distance, however, nothing of interest presented itself. "I think the goal is to prevent other teams from covering much distance. Denying your opponent progress would give you time to move and allow you to be the one who starts the battle."

Kahseral saw any attacks that got too close to Jiren were stopped by the man's glare. As expected, he thought to himself, Jiren could handle this with ease. "Maybe they're all thinking they can overwhelm each other by constantly attacking. Or, they could just be trying to score easy eliminations on the weakest fighters right away."

Toppo caught one pink ball of ki in each of his massive hands, and crushed them. "It's a foolish way to fight, blindly attacking everywhere at once. Teams who employ that strategy will just tire themselves out. The Pride Trooper's victory is certain."

3 members of Team Universe 2 split off from the rest. Zirloin trudged off, scanning all around him for someone to fight. Vikal took to the air, looking for other flying competitors she could eliminate. Jimeze uses his Instant Transmission, searching for any lone fighters he could pull a surprise attack on. The remaining 7 members had their territory locked down.

Prum leaned from side to side to take a couple of attacks, including an assortment of small blasts and a large energy wave. "Once an advantageous spot opens up, Hermila and I can combine our power and pull a combo attack," he explained, reflecting the attacks. "What do you say, friend?"

Hermila his arms out in front of him, firing with his wrist cannons. "Sounds like a plan, Prum!" he replied, forming a little smile. He turned around to alternate between firing at a few different areas.

Rabanra and Zarbuto kneeled down alongside each other, each holding an arm around the other's back for added stability. They each sent off a thick energy beam with their free hand; Rabanra's was red and Zarbuto's was yellow. After traveling some distance the two beams joined paths and formed into one much larger beam with an elliptical shape, which shifted between different shades of orange as it traveled.

"For love…" Rabanra began. Their beam landed in the area that seemed to be sending out more attacks than anywhere else.  
"...and friendship!" Zarbuto finished. By the time the orange glow at where they fired had faded, they began the process again.

Sanka Ku kicked a leg behind her, cocked her head, and winked. With a cheery smile, she said "What is that roar you're hearing?" She held her arms above her head in a V shape, hands turned sideways and palms facing each other. As she charged a ball of ki between her palms, she continued. "The chirping birds and the howling wind, what is this sound?

When the ball was fully formed, it was a royal blue with shimmers of gold. She sent it up a few feet, made a peace sign with both hands, and went on. "It's the beating heart of nature, the noise of love in all people!" She clapped her hands together and launched her attack across the arena.

Su Roas straightened her glasses, pressing her arms against her chest. She made a dorky grin and wiggled her fingers, and said "What are you learning?" She shot her arms out to the sides, hopped into the air, and landed with one foot a few steps in front of the other. Her fingertips began to glow purple and she continued. "Historical events of romance, tales of friendship inspiring bravery, what are those stories about?"

She tilted to the left and switched the position of her feet, then tilted to the right and did it again. Her hands now had a red glow that became crimson at her fingers, leading to the purple that radiated from the tips, and she went on. "It's the beating heart of information, the library of everybody's love!" She brought her feet together and clapped her hands in front of her, sending out a beam of purple ki from each finger.

Brianne de Chateau had one leg pointing to the side, crossed her arms, and threw her head back. A confident smirk spread across her face and she hollered "What's that force you just felt?" She raised a fist entered a fighting stance, taking some bouncing steps and punching the air. A bright green aura built up around her fists and she continued. "A stinging impact, a flying knockback, what's the point of this fight?"

She struck the air with her knee, backflipped, held out her fists and smacked them together. The radius of their green aura grew with each punch, and she went on. "It's the beating heart of combat, the love of my merciless fists!" She brought her arms back, clenched her fists even tighter, and then delivered punches to her left and right.

Her fists produced a blinding flash, and after a moment, two enormous domes of green ki exploded at opposite ends of the arena. "With the power of our love…" she shouted, striking a victory pose, "...Universe 2 will win it all!"

* * *

 _Get excited! To space, let's go!  
The latest obsession, come join the flow!  
I hold the power in my hands  
I wanna' laugh, I'm crazy_ _amused!  
_ _I am used to bein' confused!  
I can't get no satisfaction_

(woo-hoo) _Boredom ain't much fun  
_ (woo-hoo) _This stone weighs a ton_ _  
Before it gets too heavy, falls from the sky_ (Let's fly high)  
(woo-hoo) _Now let's spread our wings  
_ (woo-hoo) _As excitement rings  
We will go into a whole new world_

 _The door of potential is locked, us mortals are just being mocked  
_ _Oh well oh well, I'll break again, right through its foundation of rock  
_ _Do it now, Limit_ ⨯ _Breaker!_ _Shout "this is a piece of cake" for sure!_ _  
A better me, I will break free, and then I'll transform on a spur  
'cause this is Dragon Ball Super  
Zeno-Sama, we will blow you away!_

 _Imagine this! Make it your wish!_  
 _Tasty food, good weather, that's bliss_  
 _For me this is a dream come true_  
 _Epic battles! Come on, strong guys!_  
 _Lets fight each other for our lives!_  
 _I can't get more satisfaction_

(woo-hoo) _If you believe in_ _  
_(woo-hoo) _My powerful hands_ _  
_ _Then this Kamehameha is for you, so, take it_ (Let's make it)  
(woo-hoo) _When you power through_ _  
_(woo-hoo) _What depresses you_ _  
_ _This makes you a warrior as well_

 _You think you're tough, then get in line, only the strongest will survive,_  
 _Seriously, you kiddin' me, 100 times to stay alive_  
 _Hey, let's go,_ _Limit_ ⨯ _Breaker! We must go full power!  
It's the best fight, show off our might, and in the end we'll grow stronger  
'cause this is Dragon Ball Super  
The Hakaishin are gonna' go insane_

 _The door is frozen shut, we're lost, we have to survive at all costs  
_ _Oh well oh well, I'll make it melt, and there'll be nothing left but frost  
_ _Do it now, Limit_ ⨯ _Breaker! Shout "this is a piece of cake" for sure!  
A better me, I will break free, and then I'll transform on a spur  
_ _Unbelievable Super  
I'll pass my limits Super  
'cause this is Dragon Ball Super  
Zeno-Sama, we will blow you away!_ _  
_

* * *

 _Across the arena, fighters are drawing ever closer to one another. They have only shown a small taste of their abilities. Now, the battles are beginning._

 _There are 47 minutes left in the Tournament of Power._


	3. First Eliminations

Beerus facepalmed. "Ohhh," he groaned, "already, half our fighters have tossed aside the plan."

Whis wore a carefree grin. "Well, maybe some of the team splitting up is a good thing. They can't eliminate very many competitors if they all stay in the same spot."

"The goal isn't to eliminate everyone else," Beerus said, pinching his temple. "It's to avoid getting eliminated yourself. I understand they're going to have to fight, but running around picking fights all by yourself is a good way to get yourself knocked out."

"Still," said the Elder Kaioshin, "I think our strategy is better than some others. Did you see what Universe 10 just did?"

"Yeah," Shin replied. "They split up completely. Is their plan to just-"

"Go in and wreck shit!" Methiop shouted in the distance as he made his charge.

* * *

Universe 9's Rozel and Universe 10's Lilibeu had Universe 2's Zirloin in their sights. Their flight paths met as they converged upon the target. Hostility set in on both their faces.  
"Ah!" Lilibeu cried. "Trying to attack me?" She was surrounded in an energy aura she had set up.

"Oh, sure," Rozel said, "I bet that's not what you were doing, right?"

Zirloin didn't notice either of the flying fighters, who forgot about him and engaged each other. Rozel flew in a wide path, arcing back to Lilibeu and slashing at her with his claws, but her aura absorbed most of the blow. Lilibeu did a flip and kicked Rozel, decreasing his altitude somewhat. "If I can keep the high ground like this," she said, "I'll beat you easily!"

Rozel fired a few beams up at Lilibeu, which fizzled away as they hit her aura. Things weren't looking good, he thought. His attacks weren't piercing her aura. Making sure his team had the advantage when it came to flying fighters was an important part of his strategy. He wanted to stay in the ring so he could harass enemy combatants from above, and eliminating other flyers would ensure other teams didn't have this same advantage. His special attack would probably get through her energy barrier, but he wouldn't have time to charge it. However, he noticed Lilibeu kept talking instead of swooping down to attack and this gave him an idea. Rozel was never one for talking much during a fight, but distracting this opponent with conversation could buy him some much needed time. He focused and his third eye shifted from red to orange.

"You know," he said, fluttering up to Lilibeu. He looked around for something to talk about and saw Zirloin was busy fighting. "Uh, don't you feel non-flyers always assume you're weak?"

Lilibeu was about to deliver a punch, but stopped to think. "Yeah," she replied, looking indignant, "they always go 'flying won't help if I can just overpower you.' It's like, hello, I can both fly and be strong!"

Rozel put on a look of distaste and shook his fist. "The arrogance of some people!" His third eye was now yellow. "I bet they're just jealous."

"That's what I think!" Lilibeu shouted in agreement, raising a finger. She paused for a moment and remembered she was supposed to be fighting. She threw a punch, which Rozel swerved to avoid. "Besides, we have to fight in three dimensions, not just two, which takes-" she glanced at his forehead. "Did your eye turn green?"

Rozel had the world's widest grin on his face. "Yes, it did!" he said, and blasted Lilibeu with a wave of green energy from his eye.

The attack shattered her aura with ease and sent her flying into the distance, then off the edge of the arena. Once she realized her barrier wouldn't hold up she screamed and shut her eyes, only opening them when she heard Rumsshi yell "So much for not letting us down!"

Lilibeu looked around to discover she was in the stands and hid her face in her hands. "This is so disappointing," she whined, "being the first to get eliminated."

"Yes," Rumsshi agreed, "you have disappointed me!"

Gowasu put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be too hard on yourself," he said, "you fought well. Think of it as still having 9 fighters who can win the tournament."

Rozel's eye shifted back to red. After taking a moment to enjoy his victory, he descended and took a closer look at Zirloin. The Universe 2 warrior was already engaged with Hyssop, so the flying fighter decided to target someone else. He hoped to find another combatant from Universe 2 because he trusted his teammate to deal with Zirloin and figured if Team Universe 2 had one fighter roaming the arena on their own, they probably had a few more. He ascended again and set off, scanning below him for any easy pickings. At one point Freeza spotted him and fired off a few beams which Rozel avoided without difficulty. Luckily for him, Freeza seemed more interested in something else and didn't engage him further. Eventually Rozel found Team Universe 2's Vikal, who was circling around somewhat below him. A great opportunity, he thought, to eliminate yet another flying combatant! He positioned himself directly above her, waited until she was far enough away, dropped down and flew towards her in a tight curve. He prided himself on this strategy; it allowed him to flank her and was more stealthy than just flying straight to her back.

It, however, did not work and Rozel found himself getting slapped in the face quite harshly by Vikal's wing. It was a little embarrassing and he thought it stung a good deal more than it logically should have. She turned around, smirking at him. "That was a nice maneuver you pulled," she said, "but I saw you before you even did it, which is why it didn't help much."

Rozel rubbed his face and Vikal continued talking. She was saying something about making him hurt, but he wasn't paying much attention and was lost in thought. He wouldn't say it aloud, but he'd always found female fighters to be chattier than male ones. This wasn't true and even if it was it would not play to his advantage this time, because unlike Lilibeu, who wanted to have a conversation, Vikal was talking to hear herself talk. With that thought, however, Rozel reminisced about his childhood days in the slums of his home planet and his friendship with the girl who taught him how to fight. (She was a bit of a tomboy and in later years Rozel realized she had been his first crush. Sadly, they were separated when she was sold to work in the mines. Such is life in Universe 9.)

"OK," he shouted, snapping back to reality, "enough chit-chat." He flew up and punched her in the face.

Vikal was knocked back a bit, but she laughed. She went straight for Rozel and he prepared to defend, but at the last second she swerved to the side and grabbed his wing. Despite his resistance she was slowly managing to lift him up. This filled him with a fury; he was in no mood to be tossed about. He brought his other arm back and slammed his fist into her stomach with a meaty thud. Vikal's eyes widened in surprise and spittle shot out her mouth. She even blushed a little, but maintained a shaky smile.

"Mmmmhh," she took a breath. "That was a nice punch." More determined than before, she swung Rozel behind her back and sent him crashing to the floor.

Rozel picked himself up and was prepared to fly back up, but he developed a plan instead. He readied an energy wave in both hands, aiming towards the floor, and hid his arms behind his back. He waited as Vikal came down to him, giving him time to ponder her baffling reaction to getting punched. When she was nearing ground level he activated both attacks, propelling him above her. He threw his head down and fired a wave from his mouth. He would have liked to use his eye wave again, but it needed more time to recharge. Vikal jumped out of the way and managed to escape the blast area for the most part, but her wings got badly singed. The shock of this made her inhale and clench her fists. She squinted, biting her lip, and an odd little squeak escaped her mouth. This seemed to provide an opening for Rozel, so he descended upon her, grabbed her wings from behind, and lifted her up.

He then was overcome with agony in his arms. Vikal snickered and expected him to let go, but he had realized at this point what her ability was, and so he fought through the pain. He squeezed harder and twisted her wings, to which she curled her toes and began drooling.

"Y-You fool, let go!" she demanded between embarrassed laughter, "L-let go, I won't..." she made another 'mmmmhh' sound, involuntarily this time. Her legs were shaking. "...give up because of pain! But I'll go ahead and increase yours..."

She allowed herself a few moments before acting and closed her eyes. Her comment had only encouraged Rozel, who still endured the pain and continued to wrench her wings sideways and upwards. Her blush deepened, but she reminded herself she had a job to do and it wasn't time for indulgence. She tensed up and increased the level of pain caused by her wings. It was too much for Rozel. He let go and fell to the floor. The pain faded quickly, but it gave way to discomfort and fear as he realized what he was dealing with.

He had encountered sadists and masochists before. It just didn't occur to him earlier because he didn't think anyone would entertain such pleasures during a tournament which decided the fate of their Universe. (In hindsight, it was foolish of him to think there was a limit to how depraved people can be.) Frankly, he didn't understand why anyone would enjoy causing pain in that way, much less receiving it. As the realization dawned on him as well as the realization he was outmatched, terror filled his eyes.  
Vikal landed next to him. "Pain and love go hand in hand, you see," she said. "When someone is heartbroken they say love is pain, but the truth is, pain is love. There can be no gentleness without tough love."

Rozel got up and ran for the edge of the arena. Vikal watched him leap off. "Our fun is over already?" she asked. "What a shame."

Rozel appeared in the stands, took a deep breath and turned to Sidra. "Phew," he wiped his forehead. "She was crazy, I had to get out of there."

Sidra looked at him calmly, then suddenly snapped into a rage. "Idiot!" he yelled. "You threw yourself off intentionally?!"

Rozel looked to Roh, who seemed to be even angrier. "A man can't catch a break," he said, sighing.

* * *

Goku ran across the arena, batting aside anyone who tried to fight him or got in between him and his destination. "Jiireeeen!" he screamed upon seeing his target, "I'm comin' for you!"

Team Universe 11 was still in their formation, denying anyone who tried to approach them. They watched with horrified interest as Goku leapt over their defenses and towards Jiren. Before he could land, however, Toppo backhanded him and sent him flying back outside the formation. "No," he said sternly, looking down at the Saiyan who was now sprawled out on the floor, "you cannot rush in here and demand to fight Jiren."

"He's not here to entertain you," Dyspo stated, "he's here to deal with the big threats. We don't need you distracting him."

Goku picked himself up and dusted himself off. "So," he said, "you think I'm not a big threat?"

"To our patience, maybe," Cocotte said, sneering.

Goku contemplated this for a moment. "Why not let the guy speak for himself?"

Toppo's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you all keep talkin' for Jiren, deciding who he does and doesn't wanna fight," Goku said with an innocent look. "I'd just like to hear it from him."

Toppo clenched a fist. "Alright," he roared, "that's enough of your arrogance. It's time for your elimination!"

Cocotte cackled in delight. "Enjoy the humiliation of being eliminated this early on!" she shouted, and turned to the members of her team that weren't too busy fighting. "Get him, boys!"

Dyspo, Kunshi, Kettol, Tupper and Vuon split off from the formation and pounced towards Goku, surrounding him.

Dyspo was the first to rush at him. "Because of your little crush on our Jiren," he said, smashing Goku in the cheek with a sucker punch, "you've focused only on him and ignored the rest of us!"

A coiled up thread of ki appeared in Kunshi's hand. He formed a lasso with it and threw it at Goku, catching him around the neck. "You must think the rest of us aren't capable fighters," he said and tugged at the rope, sending Goku crashing to the ground. "Insulting us like that was a mistake!"

As Goku tried to get up, Kunshi wrapped more ropes around him. The Saiyan struggled in the restraints before going into the familiar, golden state of Super Saiyan. He swung his arms out, tearing apart his restraints and got to his feet. "Alright, if I have to beat you guys to prove I can fight Jiren, I'll do it."

"You'll prove nothing." Kettol stated and ran at Goku. He swiped at him a few times and Goku managed to keep dodging, but a jab to the stomach took the Super Saiyan by surprise. Kettol called for Dyspo to help him out. Dyspo kept Goku busy for a few moments, appearing in unexpected places and kicking him around. While this happened Kettol created numerous energy balls and stealthily arranged them above Goku. Kettol called Dyspo back, the swift Pride Trooper sped away, and Kettol dropped the energy balls on Goku, detonating them.

Tupper jumped into the ensuing plume of smoke, landing on top of Goku. "Hey, you know" he said as he increased his weight, gradually crushing his opponent, "it's funny you thought I was Jiren earlier, because him and I are actually pretty different."

Goku growled, straining as the weight brought him to his knees. While this was happening other members of Team Universe 11 were engaged in combat. Since they were the only team who stuck together completely, few competitors were foolhardy enough to initiate a fight with them. Those who didn't quickly get out of the team's way used hit-and-run tactics, taking potshots at the Pride Troopers and running away before they could retaliate. One of the robots of Team Universe 3 showed up, analyzed the situation as too risky, and promptly left to find some easier targets.

Tupper continued. "Jiren's pretty quiet, but you could tell that, right? I like to talk to people, though. And Jiren doesn't smile a lot, while I'm always flashing a huge grin."  
The floor beneath them crumbled and Goku sank down into the rubble. He groaned loudly in frustration, trying to push up against the overpowering weight.  
"Also," Tupper went on, "Jiren hates the banjo, but I think-"

Goku's eye twitched. His muscles were screaming out against the abuse. He squeezes his eyes shut, threw his head back and screamed "Stop talkin', dude, I don't care!" as he went Super Saiyan Blue. The Pride Troopers marveled at the display of power, but Tupper felt a little hurt. Goku threw him off and panted heavily.

"Alright!" Vuon cheered, running up to Goku from behind. "That means it's my-"

Goku swung his fist up behind him, hitting Vuon square in the face. "No!" he shouted, and leapt back into the Pride Troopers' formation. "Jiren!"  
He kicked his leg out in mid-air, aiming for Jiren's shoulder. The latter, however, took a quick step sideways and the Saiyan managed to stick a landing without making the attack.

"Son Goku," Jiren said, turning to look at him. The other Pride Troopers watched with fascination. Jiren did not seem angry, but the look on his face was one of utter seriousness. Goku listened intently, and he continued, "You are a halfway capable fighter. You've shown that."  
A look from Toppo suggested this was a pretty big compliment coming from Jiren. "So, do you know why I don't consider you worthy of fighting me?"

Goku scratched his head. "Because you think I'm a hick who plays the ban-"

"No," Jiren interrupted. "Everyone here is fighting to protect their Universe. If someone challenges me or anyone from Universe 11 it is because they want to defeat us, so their own Universe has a better chance at survival. That goes for everyone; everyone except you. To you this is a game. You want to fight me because you want to have _fun_. You caused this tournament with your careless actions, and now because of your selfishness you are putting your entertainment above the lives of everyone you know."

"I can save my Universe and have fun at the same time," Goku defended.

"No," Jiren insisted, "you can't, because our team is going to win."

"Are you sure?" Goku asked, smiling. "Maybe you're scared?"

"I am certain of our victory, yes. As for being scared, the only thing that scares me is the thought of someone like you running around, upsetting everyone's lives and causing disasters across the Universes."

Goku frowned. "So, you really don't wanna' fight? Well, this is a tournament. You don't have to agree to it, I can just attack ya'!"

Jiren took a breath. "I don't expect it to be a fight," he stated, "but come back later, when the time is right, and I will gladly eliminate you."

That was all the Saiyan needed to hear. "Great!" he cheered and took off. "You bet your butt I'll return."

Jiren tried to not get angry. He had already decided Son Goku was a person who couldn't be reasoned with. He thought of Universe 11 and how it will be nice to get back home, because he had nothing but absolute confidence in his victory.

* * *

Universe 3's Narirama lifted himself up with his arms and retracted his legs. The heels of his feet stuck out the bottom of his torso and meshed together to form the rounded point of a top, on which he landed and balanced flawlessly. It wasn't a matter of even weight distribution; if that were the case the moment he took any damage and a bit of metal chipped off he would fall over. His sensors allowed him to skillfully adjust his weight, but he wouldn't really need that when he started spinning because of the gyroscopic effect. Koitsukai stood next to him and made an inquisitive bloop. A small door slid open on Narirama's chest, revealing a hole. Koitsukai jumped up and into the hole, the door slid shut again. The larger robot made a quick series of beeps, began spinning and droned "Spinning Survival Mode activated."

Koitsukai waited with patient excitement, templing his fingers. His surprise attack would provide an opportunity to score eliminations, and on top of that it was going to be really cool. Narirama set off, adjusting course with the thruster on his back, knocking over anyone who got in his way. When he encountered anyone nearby but out of immediate range he extended an arm to get a quick punch in and went on his way. Despite having a very real consciousness and personality, his programming didn't account for the social aspect of this, which was if you keep punching people and running away, sooner or later some of them are going to hunt you down. His goal right now was to find and eliminate some of the warriors of Team Universe 10.

The robot stopped when he happened upon Carl, who was standing alone with a look of dismay. Most everyone the creature had approached and challenged so far had fled, and he was starting to take it personally. Perhaps he'd have to challenge that little bald man from Universe 7, he looked raring to go. (Carl used 'little' and 'bald' merely as descriptors. It would never occur to him to make fun of someone. He was not one to judge by appearances.) When he saw Narirama his face brightened up and he cheered "Alright, the first battle! The first of many, I hope."

Narirama beeped something that could be translated as "You look like you've already seen one too many, pal." From inside his hiding spot, Koitsukai snickered in binary.

"Let's go!" Carl shouted, entering a battle pose. "On guard!" He moved towards Narirama, who started spinning again. Carl's reflexes were quick enough and he managed to leap over the robot's arm. At the apex of his jump he kicked Narirama in the chest, pushing him back. Narirama stabilized himself and moved up to Carl again, but the creature spread apart his legs and lay flat against the ground. He was too low to be hit by the Universe 3 fighter's arms and for a few seconds both fighters stayed where they were.

Once it was apparent neither of them were going to move, Narirama carefully tilted himself forward, dipping his arms down so they could strike Carl at the bottom of their swing. Before his arms got too close Carl jumped onto one, extending his tentacles and sticking to it.  
"Woaaahhooah!" he yelled as he spun around faster than anticipated.

Narirama made many beeps in annoyance. He was working to readjust his balance, but Carl made this difficult by crawling up his arm. The robot tilted back and forth in an attempt to shake his opponent off. Carl had traveled the length of the arm and was trying to stay stuck while kicking Narirama in the head.  
Narirama beeped thrice and said "Disengage!" He stopped spinning nearly at once and Carl was flung off by the sudden stop. The Universe 10 fighter said 'woah' again as he flew past.

* * *

Universe 9's Trio de Dangers were running after Narirama, having not taken too kindly to getting punched earlier.

"Robots," Bergamo spat, "I never liked 'em."

"You've only ever met one," Basil pointed out.

Bergamo sneered. "And that one put my friend's shop out of business!"

"This story again?" Lavender asked, sighing. His brother glared at him for infringing upon his right to complain, and he changed his tune. "I mean, they should only use those things for dangerous work, not assembly lines." He looked ahead. They were closing in on the target.

"Dangerous work?" Basil repeated. "What other kind of work is there in Universe 9?"

Textiles, Bergamo thought! He mourned the loss of the fabrics factory. Dave and him had had a fine system set up before that machine came in and ruined everything. Clothing is important but Basil wouldn't understand, he didn't wear pants. Before he could vocalize any of this, the flying Carl, who was still saying 'woah,' smacked into him and knocked him down.

"Sorry," Carl said, standing up.

Bergamo dusted himself off. "What's the big idea?!"

Carl pointed to Narirama. "He threw me."  
Narirama looked at the Trio de Dangers and made one, long beep.

Lavender shook his fist. "Just the robot we were looking for."

"Ah," Carl smiled. "You want in on the fight?"

"No," Basil said, swallowing. "That asshole punched us in the face and ran off!"

Hit was limping up. He tried to maintain his stoicism but was wincing a bit. "He punched you in the _face_?" he said. "That was lucky for you."  
Carl didn't understand why getting hit in the face was lucky, but Basil winced along with Hit. "You mean he got you in the-" Basil asked before Hit raised a hand to silence him.

"I'm going to be fighting this Universe 3 machine, too," Hit said.

"Great!" Carl clapped his claws together. "But, 5 against 1's a bit unfair, don't you think?" 5 against 2, Koitsukai thought smugly.

Lavender scrunched up his face. "Unfair?"

"Yeah," Carl said, "maybe a couple of you guys could fight on his team?"

The Trio de Dangers looked baffled. Offended, even. " _Team?_ " he repeated. "I'm fighting on no team but Team Universe 9!"

Hit shook his head, so Carl said "OK, I'll fight with him and you guys fight together." He went up to Narirama who charged an energy blast and pointed it at him.

Carl raised a claw and said "Hey, man. Same team!" Narirama beeped in confusion and dissipated the blast. He turned his attention to his new opponents.

Basil jumped up and went for a kick to Narirama's head. The robot grabbed his leg and slammed him into the floor. Carl climbed on top of him and readied a beam in each of his front claws, but Basil sat up and punched him in the mouth. Carl unhinged his jaws and swallowed Basil's fist. The wolf was disgusted by this and shook his fist around in Carl's mouth, causing the creature's fangs to scrape against the flesh and fur of his hand. Enraged, Basil sent his other fist into Carl's thorax, who then spat out the hand and gave a primal howl. Basil threw him aside, stood up, and fired a barrage of blasts at Narirama. The Universe 3 fighter began spinning once more and deflected the attacks with his arms. Basil watched closely to get a feel for the speed at which Narirama's arms spun.

Lavender blew some poison onto his hands and snatched up Carl as the latter was getting up. He chuckled as the toxicity spread throughout his opponent's body. "Stop screwing around and get out of here," he demanded, "or we'll make you suffer!"

Carl smacked what would be his lips if he had any and said, "Mmmh, delicious poison."

Lavender blinked in astonishment. Carl was now scratching at him and squirming in his grasp. The wolf wordlessly clutched the creature to his chest, took a hand off and poked Carl in the eyes with poisoned fingers. He screamed in pain, shot out a claw and pinched Lavender's finger, causing him to scream as well and let go.  
Bergamo got behind Narirama and clawed at his back. It didn't do as much damage as he'd hoped, but it tore away some of the metal allowing him a peek at some clear plastic inside a compartment. Narirama heated up his thruster to defend himself, and Bergamo jumped away, escaping with singed feet. Boosting his thruster, however, sent Narirama rolling straight for Basil.

"Allow me," said Hit, springing into action. He used his Time Skip and, from his perspective, the environment crystallized. He pushed Basil out of Narirama's way and with his remaining time decided to see what would happen if he grabbed the robot's arms and, with all his might, turned them in the opposite direction they were spinning.  
When time resumed, Basil was surprised to find himself having moved, but he sensed an opportunity and recovered.

Narirama's arms slowed briefly, and that was all the time Basil needed. He jumped into the air and sped his descent with a kick. Upon landing he smashed an arm, stretching it out of its socket a little. "How do you like that, Extendo-Arms?" he taunted.

"Oh no," Carl gasped dramatically, "will my ally be able to spin anymore?"

Narirama wouldn't be able to use this arm for anything but grabbing with his hand, and he couldn't spin with only one arm. His claws, however, could still save him from elimination in a pinch, so the arm wasn't completely useless. He beeped something in frustrated tones translating to "I'll get it repaired after I defeat you and win."  
He then angled his thruster downwards, floated up into the air and extended his legs again. Still in the air, he lifted his good arm and charged a blast, which Bergamo ran in front of. This turned out to be a bad idea, as he failed to absorb the energy.  
He only suffered a bruise and some minor burns, but was stunned. "Artificial energy..." he groaned in realization, and Narirama landed.

Carl ran for Bergamo but was kicked away by Hit. Bergamo looked at the Universe 6 fighter and said "Keep the robot busy!" He then turned to his brothers and said "Fuel me!"

Basil and Lavender understood at once. They unleashed a flurry of ki attacks on their older brother, increasing his size.

"I guess I take orders now," Hit said to himself. It was going to be tricky to know where to strike. Robots didn't have 'vitals' in the same way organic beings did. They had sensitive spots, sure, but punching a man's circuit board didn't have the same effect as punching his heart. Also, no doubt this robot had been designed to be as durable as can be all over. He shot a few beams, hoping to make an opening.

The door hiding Koitsukai slid open and the tiny robot leaped out, beeping "Order this!" He extended his arm to give Hit another punch to his 'vitals' but the assassin predicted the attack and plucked the Universe 3 fighter out of the air.

"No," Hit said, lifting Koitsukai to eye level. This earned him a beam to the face from the robot's eye. He dropped the robot and wiped a layer of ash from his face. Koitsukai scanned the fighters in the area, transmitted the data, and took off knowing he was outmatched and required for Plan X.

Hit was about to perform another Time Skip. Before he did, Carl snuck behind him and pinched his ankle while laughing an annoying, insect-like laugh. Hit yelled and stomped on his attacker. Carl's hard shell protected him from any damage. He wrapped his legs around Hit's, then signaled for Narirama to attack.  
Bergamo, satisfied with his size, went over to Carl, picked him up and chucked him into the distance. He then tackled Narirama to the floor. Basil leapt up and fired his Shining Blaster at the prone robot. Each of the brilliant red orbs hit its target and after the cloud of smoke cleared, Narirama was in pretty bad shape. Both arms were damaged now and he was covered in dents and scratches.

"Should we finish this off with a Dangers' Triangle?" Lavender asked excitedly.

"That'll work," Bergamo said, shrinking back down.

Narirama tried to right himself with his better arm, but Lavender blew the hand apart with a blast. The persistent Universe 3 fighter was now trying to pick himself up with the stump of an arm and the brothers formed a triangle around him. Carl, who had caught himself on the edge of the arena with his tentacle, was traveling along the rim to get back into the fight.

Narirma made a long series of loud, rapid beeps. He floated up with the use of his thruster and attempted to fly away, but Lavender summoned an energy orb and smacked it into the robot, pushing him back down. He managed to land on his feet and tried to run away. He was unable to manage this as he was constantly being pummeled around from all angles. Hit stood by as the Trio executed their attack. He wanted to eliminate Narirama himself, and still planned to. He had caught a glimpse of the suction cups Bergamo exposed and had an idea of how this would end. Greatly worried, Narirama began charging his last resort attack.

Basil's legs glowed red as he hopped back and forth, striking Narirama's legs from many angles. Soon one leg had broken off at the knee and the other was twisted around.  
"Don't underestimate the Trio de Dangers!" he shouted. "We survived in Universe 9."

Rays of yellow light shone from Lavender's fists. He beat in Narirama's head mercilessly, severing his antenna and cracking his eye. "Enjoy the inescapable wrath of our Dangers' Triangle!" he cried.

Bergamo was surrounded with a blue aura. He punched and kicked the robot's torso to upset his balance and then slammed into him, pushing him closer and closer to the edge with his entire body weight. "You will be defeated," he declared, "and the rest of your Universe's team will follow."

The barrage made quick work of Narirama, and he was soon shoved off the arena's edge. The robot made a couple of tired beeps as two semicircular doors on his back slid apart and two pairs of suction cups held together by metal framing folded out. Bergamo saw this and was prepared so he fired his Wolfgang Pressure. Narirama was pushed away before his suction cups could make contact and he continued falling. His arm with no hand was useless, but he used the hand on his functionless arm to sink his claws into the floor. He dangled from the edge of the arena and powered his thruster to lift himself back in. The brothers looked at one another in exasperation. Basil stomped on Narirama's remaining hand and broke off his claws. Lavender flicked his wrist and shot two beams from his fingers, curving them, and they sliced apart the framing holding together the suction cups. Bergamo fought against the robot's thruster with an energy wave in each hand. Narirama fell out of sight. However, Carl could be heard grunting as he revealed himself, climbing up the edge of the arena with him stuck to his tentacle.  
"I got ya', partner!" he said, dropping his 'partner' on the floor.

Hit squinted. He looked at the Trio de Dangers. "He just saved a fighter from another Universe."

"Yeah," Bergamo said flatly.

"Does he know the Universes are going to erased?" Hit asked in disbelief.

"I have no idea."

Carl was saying something, but nobody was listening. Hit approached Narirama, and lifted a hand.  
Narirama's torso stood upright, a crumpled leg folded beneath it. On his back above the doors housing his suction cups, another pair of doors flapped open. Blue light radiated from inside and smoke poured out. His cracked eye stared back at Hit and flashed. "Energy Core Blast..." he beeped in robotic, and a large chamber on his torso filled with the same blue light. As a war cry he added, spoken regularly, "Nari-"

"Begone," Hit said. He performed a Time Skip and tapped the robot.

"-Rama!" the Universe 3 fighter wailed, falling from the arena for the final time.

Narirama appeared in the stands. He turned his eye to Mosco.  
"You were outnumbered," the God of Destruction said to him in robotic. "and you gave it your all. Good job."  
Narirama made a bloop of gratitude and entered sleep mode.

"That was quite the fight, boys," Carl said with a grin, "what next?"

Nobody answered him. "I want to teach that kid from Universe 7 a lesson," Lavender demanded.

"Universe 7!" Carl said, thinking of Krillin. "I'd like to fight them, too."

"Do you really expect to just tag along with us?" Basil asked.

"Yeah," Carl answered.

Bergamo huffed. "Fine. You'll probably get your ass kicked anyway," he said. "To Team Universe 7 we go."

Hit, satisfied with eliminating Narirama, was already shuffling off somewhere else.

* * *

Vegeta saw Botamo riding Auta Magetta towards the center of the arena. He had a few choice words for the metal man but decided not to say them. This wasn't out of politeness, it was out of pride; he didn't want to resort to the exploiting a fighter's weakness straight away. What he didn't know was even if he had hurled an insult at Magetta it would not have worked because Botamo was covering his ears. The Saiyan figured if Bota Magetta were running from that direction the rest of the Universe 6 fighters must be somewhere in that vicinity, and decided to find Cabba because he found the young man slightly less annoying than most other people here. Cabba, none of his teammates having wanted to group up with him, thought to find Vegeta and ask him for advice. Soon enough, the two found each other and started a conversation. Vegeta mentioned something Cabba had told him during their first fight.

"It's not an ancient legend," Cabba explained, "it happened a little over 40 years ago. In fact it's not much of a religious thing at all, it's just common sense."

"It's common sense for me not to trust the bastard, right," Vegeta agreed. If the technology of Frost's empire was similar to Freeza's, maybe they could manage time travel, but the idea didn't sit well with him. "But, if this Saiyan really did come from the future, there would be _another_ timeline, and-"

Cabba was dying to correct him and had to interrupt. "Well, no," he interjected, "he didn't come from the future in person. He sent a two-way broadcast back in time. And he showed a picture of someone who looked just like Frost, and he said 'Don't trust Frost.' OK, the broadcast cut out early and he only got the first part of the name out."

He was prepared for Vegeta to scrutinize the phrase 'someone who looked just like' and already had a counterargument prepared. Instead, however, Vegeta asked "How do you know he really was from the future?"

Cabba explained the messenger had a tail, and the fact the Saiyans in the past didn't (and were therefore further back in the line of evolution) was the first thing he pointed out in the broadcast. It was then Vegeta began to form an idea in the back of his mind of who the Future Messenger could be. He decided both Universes 6 and 7 would, somehow, survive and he would visit Planet Sadala to learn more.

* * *

Freeza smiled at Frost. They had seen each other briefly before the tournament but had not exchanged words. They were discussing how they used to run their empires when Freeza mentioned Saiyans, seeming to hope his doppelgänger harbored the same level of animosity towards them. "They're superstitious monkeys, don't you think?" he asked. "Not only that, but they refuse to learn their place."

Frost put a finger to his mouth. "Sorry, the comparison to monkeys is lost to me. I haven't interacted much with any Saiyans other than the ones on our teams. However..." he clenched a fist, "... _Vegeta_."

His tone explained everything to Freeza. He understood; Vegeta had to be his second most hated Saiyan. Third place would go to Gohan, whom Freeza had mentally filed as 'The Brat.' First place would, of course, be the one responsible for his first humiliating defeat.

"Vegeta indeed," he said. "I've worked with them and trust me, all they ever talk about is their ridiculous legends."

Frost raised a hand and nodded. "It's strange," he said, "I'd agree they are superstitious. I said I haven't interacted with Saiyans much. I _was_ going to use the race for my purposes, under the guise of something noble, but they flat-out refused. Their reason for doing so had to do with some legend about not trusting 'F,' who is, apparently, me."

Freeza let this sink in. He decided what he was going to do, as if there were any question. "Well," he said, "from one 'F' to another..." he smirked and put a hand on Frost's shoulder "...I have a little I'd like to teach you, if you're willing."

* * *

Android 17 and Universe 3's Viara were engaging in the classic ceremony of slowly showing off more of your power to learn about your opponent. When the Android caught a glimpse of The Preecho in the distance he made a mental note to think up more Cell jokes to annoy his sister with. For some reason Universe 10's Murisarm thought this was the perfect moment to attack. He landed a punch on Viara and pretended it didn't hurt his fist, then 17 tore the martial artist away from his other opponent. The two men stood some distance apart and stared each other down. Viara did not get involved. He and the other robots had sensed something peculiar in 17 and 18 and he wanted to observe him and get information (both to help aid in combat against the Androids and out of general curiosity.) He saw Hyssop fleeing from Zirloin in the distance and calculated there was a high probability of many eliminations occurring soon.

"Alright, man," Murisarm blurted, "you wanna' fight? What about it?!" His eyes grew wider with every other word and he kept tilting his head at odd angles.

"You approached me," 17 stated, already annoyed by the Universe 10 fighter, "but, OK."

Murisarm somersaulted towards 17. The Android thought this was an absurd move but Murisarm covered distance faster than predicted and 17 barely leaned back in time to avoid a punch to his face.  
17 cupped his hands together, leaned forward, and went to smash Murisarm on the head. Murisarm ducked, brought his fist out and slid towards his opponent. He stopped with his knuckles an inch from the Android's chest, then shot his fist forward. 17 coughed up spit and was thrown back. This fighter wasn't too strong, but he was quick and had great control of his body, which makes for a powerful warrior.

"I trained under master Nam Pi," Murisarm exclaimed, punching his fists in front of him and taking short steps towards 17, "who trained under master Nuhs-haw Nahc! And he trained under master-"  
17 delivered energy blasts from both hands to the blabbering martial artist.

Murisarm didn't anticipate this and failed to dodge; his only reaction was to look away before the attack exploded in his face. Inside the resulting cloud of dust, he dropped to his knees and panted. He never would have even fathomed someone could be so disrespectful as to attack someone while they were detailing their lineage. He raised a palm and formed a large orb of ki, sending it up and out of the dust cloud. He moved the orb in front of the Android, split it apart into several smaller balls and moved these behind 17, who turned around. Murisarm leapt out of the dust and stomped on his opponent's foot. After the initial shock the Universe 7 fighter's eyes pooled with rage.

"How dare you," Murisarm said, bringing the energy orbs, which now seemed to be more than distractions, closer to 17, "attack a man while he's telling you about his master and his master's master!"

The Android pushes Murisarm away from him and activated his Energy Shield. The ki balls detonated, doing no damage. He jumped in the air. "I don't give a damn who your master is," he shouted and charged a blast in one hand, and an energy wave in the other, spinning the other arm over his head, "and I give less than no damns who your master's master was!"

The Universe 10 fighter scowled. "That's rude!" he said, and fired a beam at his opponent, which didn't get through the barrier.

Enough with this guy's stupid gimmick, 17 thought. He scooped the arm down with the energy wave down, set the blast in front of the wave and hurled the attack at Murisarm. The wave bulldozed him towards the edge at which point the blast erupted, knocking him off.

Gowasu comforted him after he appeared in the stands. "Go on, tell me about your master's master's master, and so on," he said. "I'll listen."

* * *

Android 18 was engaged in a fight with Universe 4's Shosa when Caulifla and Kale approached. The former marched with a look of haughty aggression and the latter timidly tip-toed behind. Caulfila declared she and her friend were going to fight Shosa and knocked 18 away when she saw the Android was already doing so. The Universe 7 fighter shook her fist and tried to tell her off but a battle quickly erupted between the Saiyans and Shosa, so 18's words were ignored. She picked herself up and turned around, only to bump into someone again.

"Hey, can't you see?" she asked, then looked up.

"No, I cannot," Universe 4's Majora said, smiling, "but you were the one to walk into me."

Awkwardness and guilt formed in 18's stomach and she attempted an apology. "I'm so-"

Majora waved her off. "Don't worry about it," he said politely, "it's alright. The reason I didn't move was because I've never encountered a scent quite like yours before and I was focused on exploring it."

The Android gave a wry smile. "My scent, huh?"

"Yes, I can tell you're a powerful woman, a mother," Majora said, kicking her in the face without warning. Her neck cracked as it was turned 90 degrees. She went to grab his leg but he withdrew it and continued, "but be warned, I do plan to do more than talk."

She fired a beam at the Universe 4 fox. He leaned to the side but was late to react and the attack grazed him. "You can tell that from 'exploring my scent?'" she asked, going for a kick. Majora dodged, but at the last moment, costing him his balance. "Kinda creepy."

"My apologies," he righted himself and bowed his head, "I didn't mean it like that. What I mean is in the same way you might look at someone to learn about them, I can learn as much from their scent. More in fact, because people take efforts to alter their appearance, but don't do the same for their smell."

18 slipped behind him and charged a blast against his back, saying "But you haven't been very good at sniffing out my movements."

To her surprise he grabbed her other arm and flipped her. "As I said, I've never encountered a scent like yours so I'm not used to it." He laughed a wise laugh and added "But I'm improving."

* * *

Vikal had her legs wrapped around Hyssop's waist, arms around his neck and was flying off. A horrible cold spread throughout her arms and nether region. Her limbs trembled and she wore a quivering, pained smile. Ice was starting to cover her inner thighs and arms but it was the only option; she couldn't fly with frozen wings and this guy was barely pushed back by any of her long-ranged attacks. As she savored the cold, saliva spilling from her lips, she wished she could be causing the Universe 9 giant pain right now. Sadly for her her limbs were occupied and her wings busy with the task of flying. He struggled in her grip and said "Let me go! Don't underestimate Universe 9."

"Goodbye, sweetheart," Vikal said as she dropped Hyssop off the edge and blew him a kiss. She landed on the floor and waited for her partner, letting the ice thaw naturally.

Soon Universe 2's Jimeze appeared before her, grabbed her shoulder, and they disappeared together.  
They reappeared among Zarbuto and the Kamikaze Fireballs. "Team Universe 9 has been pestering us," the Yardrat explained. "I think it's time to deal with them."

Zarbuto looked worried. "You found out where they're going, right?" he asked.

Jimeze nodded. "Their leaders said they were heading for Team Universe 7. The other Universe 9 fighters will try regrouping with them soon."

Sanka Ku crossed her arms and smiled with confidence. "Universe 7, huh? That's the one with that Mibu fellow, right?"

Su Roas chimed in, adjusting her glasses and sniffing. "Actually, I believe Prum misunderstood. The fighter said 'Me Buu' as in 'I am Buu.' A similar miscommunication  
occurred in the book The Apathy of Space, with dire consequences. You see-"

Brianne de Chateau nughed her with a shoulder. "Su," she said gently, "not every situation needs a literary reference."

"We should get there before them instead of trying to follow them," Vikal said, "since they're split into two groups and that way we can make both come to us."

"Yes. Hold on, everybody," Jimeze said, and the others touched him. He put two fingers to his forehead. "Let's show everyone the love Universe 2 is capable of."  
The five of them vanished.

* * *

Freeza Tournament of Power theme: watch?v=ie13dbqydTs

* * *

 _The Trio de Dangers of Universe 9 have shown their capabilities, and are attacking Universe 7 next. Universe 2, however, is prepared to defeat them._

 _5 fighters have been eliminated. 75 remain. Which Universe will be the first to be erased?_ _  
_

 _There are 45 minutes left in the Tournament of Power._


	4. Pushing Me Off the Edge

"Let's see," said the Daishinkan, "Universe 10's Lilibeu and Murisarm, Universe 9's Rozel and Hyssop and Universe 3's Narirama have been eliminated." He looked at the stands and the center pillar. It was composed of ten sections, with a cone beneath the bottommost section. Three minutes ago the top of the cone was flush with the arena and now the bottommost section had mostly moved down.  
"Hit's so cool!" Zeno cheered.  
"Yes," the Daishinkan agreed, "his abilities are unique and quite useful."  
The childlike diety tapped at his GodPad and marked the eliminated fighters. He switched between viewing angles. "Some of the teams are coming together," he stated. "They're gonna' meet up and fight."  
The Father of Angels nodded. "Let's see who comes out victorious."

* * *

Team Universe 7 (the five members who stuck together, that is) was still back-to-back.  
"You know," Krillin said, punching Universe 10's Jirasen in the face and knocking him away, "it would have been neat to have Tien fight with us. It's too bad he slipped on that puddle of-"  
Universe 3's Katopesla was sprinting up. He screeched to a halt and interrupted Krillin, saying "It is my duty to eliminate you warriors!"  
Piccolo shot a few blasts towards the ground at Katopesla's feet, launching him back. "Why do all these guys have their own gimmick?" he asked in annoyance.  
"Maybe they're not actually this silly all the time," Gohan theorized, deflecting beams from an unknown attacker, "but each Universe's team has its own gimmick, so they can have something to bond about. You know, to form an identity."  
Roshi nodded. "It's very helpful" he said, "to be comfortable with the people fighting alongside you. Having a 'team gimmick' would help develop cohesion."  
"Buu happy to be fighting with all you guys!" Buu said, giggling. "Let's beat 'em up and win!"

Jimeze, Vikal, Brianne de Chateau, Sanka Ku, So Roas and Zarbuto of Universe 2 appeared nearby.

* * *

Team Universe 9 was split into two groups. The Trio de Dangers were approaching Team Universe 7, so was Carl. Oregano, Chappil, Hopp, Sorrel and Comfrey were a good distance behind them but were catching up. The latter group did not know what the former's destination was, and the former was unaware of the latter's efforts to regroup.  
"Brother," said Basil to Lavender, "I know you want a rematch with the Gohan boy, so I'll leave him for you."  
Lavender grinned. "Much appreciated. Do you plan on taking on that pink weirdo again?"  
"Actually, I don't. He's kind of annoying to fight, with his stretchiness and all that."  
"They had some white-and-purple guy on their team who looked pretty full of himself. Maybe you could take care of him." Basil nodded at Lavender's suggestion.  
Bergamo joined the conversation. "We don't know if their team is all together, though. If some of them split off, I'll stomp the weaklings who are huddled together."  
Despite the honor he displayed when fighting along Narirama, Carl was aware losing Universes were going to be erased. However he found it unlikely all ten members of any time would get eliminated right away. He figured the Tournament of Power wouldn't end in a 'last man standing' scenario and most, if not all, teams would have at least one member make it to the end. So, he was betting on the Universes not being erased until the end and, therefore, since it wasn't an immediate threat there was no point getting worried quite yet.

"It's a shame Hyssop was eliminated," Oregano said. "We worked well together."  
"Team Universe 2 has defeated 2 of our fighters already," Chappil pointed out. "We have to show them Universe 9 isn't to be taken lightly."  
Hopp saw Koitsukai running by, bent down and tried to snatch him up. The robot caught the sadistic look on her face when she got close, shot a beam at her from his eye, and jumped atop her head. While she was dazed he scanned the area and sent out the information to his allies. Hopp wrapped her hand around his body but before she could remove him he grabbed a clump of her hair in both hands and tugged, digging the tips of his feet into her scalp. "Ow, get off!" she screamed, pulling at the Universe 3 fighter, which only caused her more pain and him to tighten his grip. "Someone get the little bastard off!"  
Koitsukai was indeed a little bastard. He wasn't built to defeat opponents and score eliminations; he was here to transmit info to his allies and in case he was needed for Plan X. This tactic of his wouldn't help his team much, but it sure would annoy the hell out of Team Universe 9. Hopp raised a hand above her head and tried to hit Koitsukai with beams, but the robot avoided them by yanking on her hair and throwing her head left and right.  
"I'll help," Oregano said, shooting a thread of web at the robot. It was meant to tie Koitsukai's arms to his body, but he shot it down with an eye beam. The thread landed as a glob of web, sticking Koitsukai's legs to Hopp's hair.

Hopp shouted and pulled harder, hurting herself more in the process. Koitsukai bleeped in amusement, let one hand go and cracked it down on her skull. He wrapped his other arm in curls of her hair and continued tugging. "Make him let go!" she screamed. She tried to crush the robot in her grip, but he was too durable.  
Koitsukai beeped twice and fired up his jets, lifting Hopp off the floor. She shrieked as the weight of her body pulled on her hair, but Sorrel said "Oh, no you don't!" grabbed her leg in time and, fighting against the robot's jets, pulled her teammate back down.  
"Take this!" yelled Comfrey, lunging at Koitsukai and throwing a punch. The Universe 3 fighter tugged Hopp's head down and ducked under the attack. Comfrey withdrew his fist, Koitsukai yanked Hopp's head back up and fired an eye beam at him.  
"I'll fry you to a crisp!" Chappil said, inhaling deeply, ready to unleash his flame breathe onto the robot. Koitsukai chose this moment to leap from his host's head, tearing out several locks of hair in the process. Hopp let out a wail and touched her stinging scalp, feeling the spots where clumps of hair had been uprooted. Her expression turned to rage as she cursed the fleeing robot. It was too late when she noticed the stream of fire spewing from Chappil's mouth.

* * *

Team Universe 11 was still in their formation. They had been pestered by some Universe 10 fighters who quickly ran off, but most others steered clear of the Pride Troopers, intimidated by the tightly-knit ten-person army. Toppo suggested they seek out and eliminate some of these combatants, so the group set off to find members of Team Universe 10. They traveled in a long arc, moving smoothly as a group.  
"I knew the fact we've fought together for a long time was going to give us an advantage," Tupper remarked, "but I didn't think it would help us this much. Some of these other teams are trying to work well together, but just don't have that connection with one another."  
"Yes," agreed Kahseral, "and that's why everyone else had to split up at least a little. They couldn't work reliably as a single, large group."  
Zirloin jumped out of the team's way to avoid being steamrolled. He fired off a few blasts as they went past but these were easily deflected. As they were leaving Cocotte hurled a ball of energy at the Universe 2 fighter, looking pleased as it slapped him in the face and detonated.  
"We do have strength in numbers," Vuon said, hoping to see some action soon, "but we're not invincible. Goku caused us some trouble; other fighters around his level may be able to do the same."  
"I could probably defeat Goku with my speed," Dyspo said with a smirk. He looked at Jiren. "I'll have to settle for watching you do it, though. I like how confident you are, man. It's making it easier for me to stay calm."  
Jiren thought to himself Dyspo should be his own source of confidence, but he figured it didn't matter much either way. He didn't blame the other teams for thinking they were going to win, in fact it was noble to him. He had the feeling the first Universe would be erased soon. This was for the better; dragging along your existence when your team only has one fighter left and you know you're going to lose would be cruel.

The Pride Troopers were nearing the center pillar when they were halfway through their arc and were about to swing left. However, from behind the pillar jumped out Bota Magetta. Auta Magetta's arms were crossed and he wore a look of intense concentration. His ears were still covered and he couldn't hear the dialogue between his partner and the members of Team Universe 11, but he didn't focus on the fact they were talking. He had meditated before the tournament and now was instead paying attention to what he saw and felt. This required more than just making the conscious decision not to listen; it was a matter of not allowing himself to hear anything in the first place. Botamo was grinning with wild confidence. The duo charged towards the Pride Troopers.  
Toppo leaped into the air at pounded Botamo's belly with a fist. Unaware of the Universe 6 fighter's abilities, he expected the strike to unseat him from Magetta and send him flying. Toppo's momentum would have carried him over Magetta and he could deliver additional beatings to Botamo. However, Botamo did not move back an inch, so Toppo slammed into him. Waves rippled outward on the bear's flesh, traveling outward from the spot he was punched. The ripples shrank as the force was dispersed throughout his body, until the attack had been fully absorbed. Toppo tried to push the rider off Magetta, but Botamo sucked in his chest and then puffed it back out, bouncing the Universe 11 fighter off. As he fell Magetta swung a leg up into him.  
"The unstoppable combo," Botamo boasted with a smirk, "Bota Magetta!"  
Toppa caught his balance and landed on a knee and a palm. He rose and gave Zoiray a signal, who in turn signaled Tupper. Tupper scooped Zoiray up and hurled him, the small Pride Trooper landed in front of Bota Magetta and spun, delivering a current of wind to Magetta. These orders were given and actions performed swiftly and smoothly; the Pride Troopers had trust in one another and a fine sense of what one another is thinking. Botamo held on to Magetta's ears, flipped himself over the metal man and blocked Zoiray's gusts, billowing like a windsock as he did so. Magetta spat lava into both hands and held them in front of Botamo. As Zoiray's fierce winds partly cooled the magma into rock, Magetta shot a beam from the spout on his head, curved it to travel over Zoiray and strike the ground behind him. The Pride Trooper's spinning slowed and he was launched up by the explosion and chucked the two rocks at him. The rocks solidified around him and he hit the floor with a thud.  
"Zoiray!" Dyspo shouted, about to rush to his ally's aid. However the rocks encasing Zoiray began shaking and bits crumbled off, so Dyspo figured he would manage to escape. He charged at Bota Magetta, telling Kunshi to follow behind. "We'll see how 'unstoppable' you are when up against my speed!" Botamo struggled to flip himself back, but Magetta grabbed his legs and helped him up. The metal man was spitting lava at Dyspo, who avoided them by running in zig-zags. Magetta stomped the floor in an attempt to stagger him, but Dyspo covered the last of the distance by leaping over the shaking ground, and then delivered four attacks to the Universe 6 fighter in quick succession. Magetta did not budge and his body was not so much as scratched. Botamo laughed as Magetta spit more lava into has hands, blowing onto it and shaping it.

"Good luck attacking Auta Magetta," Botamo jeered. "If you manage to break anything, it'll be your own hands!"  
Kunshi had almost arrived and was about to position himself behind the opponent. Dyspo saw this and prepared an energy wave attack, then moved back to get out of range of whatever weapon Magetta was forming. This gave Botamo time to make an attack of his own, so he fired an energy wave from his mouth and Dyspo had to jump out of the way. In mid-air the Pride Trooper split his attack into two blasts, curved them around Botamo's attack and exploded them in Magetta's eyes. This didn't damage the metallic fighter, but it provided the distraction Kunshi needed. His molten weapon, a large warhammer, now formed, Magetta prepared to swing it down on Dyspo.  
"Is that even allowed?" Dyspo asked as he landed.  
"He made it from his own body!" Botamo defended.  
Magetta lurched to a stop when he felt threads of energy wrap around his legs. Botamo felt this and looked to see Kunshi behind him, trying to pull the heavy Magetta to the ground. He tapped the metal man on the shoulder and pointed at this. Magetta threw an arm behind his back and sliced the threads with his warhammer. Dyspo sprinted towards his opponent, who tried to smash him using his weapon. Magetta aimed a little in front of the Pride Trooper, having noticed his great speed and factored in the time it would take to attack. This worked to Dyspo's advantage, because Kunshi lassoed him with an energy thread, yanked him up and over the warhammer. Dyspo, at eye level with Botamo, turned the bear's expression of confusion into shock as he punched and kicked him all over with lighting speed. The Universe 6 fighter trembled, his flesh and fat jiggling spastically in the many areas he was hit. For a moment his hands came off his teammate's ears.  
"I was wondering what would happen if I hit you faster than you could absorb damage," Dyspo said, "Not so unstoppable now, are you two, ridiculous rider and steed?"  
As Botamo recovered he had a look of horror. Magetta must have heard this insult! Would it be sufficient to break his spirit? He looked down at his partner. "Magetta?"  
Auta Magetta only seemed worried his partner had been stunned by Dyspo's attacks. No molten tears filled his metal eyes, and he didn't respond to Botamo, who smiled.  
"He didn't hear you!" he cheered. "He has managed to enter a trance. How low of you to try and exploit his emotional weakness like that, but it won't work!"  
Dyspo raised an eyebrow. "Emotional weakness?" he repeated. "What are you talking about?"  
"I don't have to explain anything to you," Botamo said, firing a beam from his finger which Dyspo narrowly dodged, and tapping on Magetta's warhammer. "Prepare for ruination!"

Magetta swiped with his warhammer, but it stopped before it reached Dyspo. Botamo leaned forward since his partner's arms and weapon were blocking his view, and saw Jiren standing next to Dyspo, holding the warhammer back in his hand.  
"That's enough," Jiren said, snapping off the end of the weapon. "We didn't come here to face you. Be on your way."  
"No! We were here first, and I don't care if you don't want to fight us."  
"Fine, stay here. Just let us tend to our business and then go ambush someone else if you want."  
"I'm not going to listen to _you,_ " Botamo pointed at Jiren then at his friend, "and he can't listen to you!"  
Jiren narrowed his eyes. "If you really want to be eliminated this early," he sighed, "so be it."  
Magetta raised a leg, prepared to stomp this new opponent. Botamo charged an energy wave in his hands. "Alright, Muscles," he taunted, "we're gonna' kick your overconfident a-"  
Jiren's had an open palm in front of Magetta's pelvis. A small, gray orb of ki flashed into existence. Its silver light shined through the spaces between Jiren's fingers. It detonated, sweeping Magetta and Botamo up and sending them crashing into the center pillar. The two Universe 6 fighters were in a swarm of pain and confusion. Magetta's pelvis and torso had been cracked. Botamo was unable to absorb the force of impact and his back screamed out in pain. The teammates, unable to see or think clearly, moaned and writhed before slipping out of consciousness.

Champa's mouth was agape, he held his twitching hands out in front of him. "Magetta! Botamo!" he cried, breathing heavily. "I-Is that the true power of Jiren?"  
With a gentle smile, Vados put a hand on his shoulder. "No," she explained sweetly, "he was clearly not using his full strength."  
The Hakaishin furrowed his brows and scowled in frustration. "That's... you know what I meant," he whined as he ran his hands through his fur.  
Jiren did not bother to eliminate Magetta and Botamo, believing his time could be better spent and someone eager to score a few easy knockouts would be sure to take care of it. Zoiray had managed to break out of his rocky prison and the Pride Troopers moved on.  
Fuwa didn't seem all that worried. "Well, remember" he said to Champa, "we have someone who can help in this kind of situation."

Universe 6's Dr. Rota sprinted up to his unconscious teammates. "You two smacked into this thing hard," he looked at the center pillar. "It's not so much as chipped. I wouldn't want to fight the guy did this to ya'."  
As he spoke he gestured with his hands. The movements were complicated but done fluidly. He intoned, "Yaawawmisttiwmewun." A glow built up around his hands. "Apapararap!" Wobbling, irregular masses of red light floated from his hands. "Iä! Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!"  
"Alright," he said with a chuckle. "that last one was a joke."  
He aimed a hand at Botamo. The lights drifted towards and dissolved into the bear. As this happened his cuts and bruises shrunk in depth or size until no longer visible. "I _love_ this Doctor!" Rota said to himself in a tough yet happy voice. He replied to himself in his own voice, "Oh, stop, you're making me blush!"  
He aimed a hand at Auta Magetta. The same process happened with the metal man's cracks and dents.  
"Thank you, Doc." Rota said in a low, muffled voice, replying with "Glad you appreciate it, you're very welcome."  
Once his teammates were healed Dr. Rota hurried off. After he was out of sight Botamo and Magetta rose, inspected themselves and looked at each other. "Are we... unhurt?" Magetta asked.  
Botamo patted himself in confusion, and once he realized he was indeed in well health he rubbed his belly joyously. "That spandex-wearing, bug-eyed weirdo must not be too strong after all!"  
"I guess," Magetta said, looking down, "but that's still a pretty mean insult..."

* * *

Goku ran across the arena. The direction in which he was running was of little importance to him; the thing at the front of his mind was the hope Jiren would fulfill what the Saiyan interpreted as a promise to fight him. He saw 18 nearby and tried to approach her, but suddenly found himself having moved past her. He was as far away from her now as he originally was, only in the opposite direction, without any noticeable passage of time. Upon this translocation he felt queasy and stumbled, although the latter reaction was mostly from shock and he quickly recovered. He noticed he had been moved towards some young women who were fighting what looked like a werewolf.  
"Hey," he said, walking up to the girls, "you must be Universe 6 Saiyans." Kale looked away from him.  
Caulifla ducked a blow from Shosa. "It's pronounced-" she looked at Goku. "Oh, so you pronounce in differently in Universe 7."  
"Oh," Goku said, "Vegeta did say the Saiyans pronounced it differently before they left Planet... Sandal."  
Caulifla furrowed her eyebrows. "Planet _Sadala,_ " she corrected.  
Shosa chopped the side of her neck, making her grunt and jolt forward. "Are we going to argue phonetics, or are we going to fight?"  
Caulifla's eyes flared and she decked him in the jaw. "Asshole!" she growled. "I was havin' a conversation!"  
Kale peeked at Goku to see his gaze had shifted towards her, he smiled and waved. She hid herself behind her friend. Shosa pushed his lower jaw back into place with a click.  
"Well, I gotta go help my friend," Goku said, turning away. "By the way, my name's Goku."  
Shosa looked at Goku as he left, glanced behind himself, and strafed to the right a little, lining himself up with Caulifla. She followed him and kicked, but was transported back a fraction of a foot. Shosa snatched her leg and twisted. The Saiyan screamed in pain and Shosa laughed as he swept her other leg. Kale glided by, stabbed his arm with an elbow and he released Caulifla.

"OK!" Caulifla shouted. She concentrated her energy, felt a tingling in her upper back, realized it was just an itch and scratched it. She transformed. "Kale! Let's go Super Saiyan!"  
Kale sunk her head down. "B-But," she stammered, "I can't control myself like that. I'm afraid I'll end up killing someone..."  
Caulifla looked into her friend's worried eyes. "Yeah," she said, "you'll be disqualified if you kill someone, but if you don't transform we might not win!"  
"It's not about being disqualified. I just don't want to take a life."  
Caulifla rolled her eyes and charged Shosa. As she approached he jumped in an arc over her and when he was directly above her she was translocated back a few feet. The Universe 4 fighter charged an energy wave, landed in front of Caulifla and fired it at her chest, pushing her back. Kale fired a beam at Shosa's head but he was expecting her to intervene this time. He ducked the beam and turned his attack on her, knocking her down. Caulifla yelled "Crush Cannon!" and delivered a barrage of red blasts to her opponent. He shielded himself by producing a sheet of ki in front of him, but some of the blasts snuck in and mildly damaged him.  
Kale picked herself up, crouched and blasted the floor, propelling herself up and towards Shosa. Before she landed she shot her leg into his back and sent him stumbling. He spun around to keep his balance and swatted Kale down with an arm before she could touch the floor. The young Saiyan reached for him, clamping down on the tuft of fur around his neck and pulled, regaining her footing and causing Shosa to yowl. He grabbed Kale's arm and dug in with his nails and she let go with a shriek.

"Time for your defeat!" Caulifla declared, wielding a charged energy wave.  
Shosa heard this, turned and signaled to someone a short distance behind him. Grinning confidently, he turned back and jumped to the side, failing to notice he was told not to go through with the plan. To his surprise Caulifla stayed where she was, merely having to adjust her aim and fired at him. Kale cupped her hands together and bashed him in the side of the head from behind. The energy wave rocketed into him and Kale bashed him again, on the other side. He tried to press his feet down and hold his ground, but the second attack from Kale made him collapse. His head smacked against the arena floor and Caulifla's attack shot him away.  
Caulifla pointed with both hands and cackled smugly. "That's how we do it!" she cheered, watching Shosa skid across the arena.  
"Yeah, we did well," Kale said with a swallow, looking at Shosa's crumpled body, "but he's not getting up..."  
"Good, then let's throw him out!" Caulifla approached the Universe 4 fighter and Kale ran ahead.  
Kale bent down over Shosa. He had burns on his torso, singes and scrapes all over and was bleeding from the head. She jostled him and a cold terror welled up in her stomach. "I think we killed him," she gasped.  
"What!" Caulifla shouted. She kicked Shosa in the chest but didn't spot any movement. She touched her hands to her temples. "Are we gonna' get disqualified? It's not our fault this guy was weak!"  
Kale fell to her knees, shaking. She held her head down in her hands. "We-" she muttered, feeling like she couldn't breathe, "I _killed-"_

Shosa sprung up and tackled Caulifla to the floor. He dealt punch after punch into her face, pelted her body with tiny beads of ki. When she tried to retaliate he kept her held with his body weight, gathered her arms and pressed them against her with one of his and grabbed her golden hair with his free hand. Happy to dish out this beating, he flicked his tail in the air; to keep his opponent pinned he pushed down with his upper body and his backside stuck up. Kale was upon him now, she took his tail with both hands and tugged.  
"Caulifla!" she cried, twisting and pulling the tail. Shosa didn't seem terribly bothered by this and proceeded to lift Caulifla's head up and smash it against the floor. "Stop hurting her!"  
Kale landed a kick to his rear, desperate to pry him off. "Enough already, get off her!"  
She went around to grab Shosa by the neck but was punched down by a new opponent. She got up and saw Universe 10's Methiop smiling at her. She charged at him, he dodged and grabbed her neck. Universe 10's Napapa approached, picked up Shosa and Caulifla by their heads. Caulifla stretched an arm out to Shosa, ready to tear him apart, and Shosa aimed a blast at Napapa's face. Before either could act, Napapa smashed them together. Blood dripped from both their heads. The two fighters squirmed in his giant, meaty hands, only encouraging him to tighten his grip.  
"Let her go!" Kale screamed, thrashing as Methiop lifted her by the neck. He drove a fist into her stomach and she coughed up a hunk of spit. As he watched the abuse Napapa inflicted on her sister figure, she sensed her control slipping away.

"Smash, smash, smash!" Napapa sang, continuing to bang the two fighters together.  
"Punch, punch, punch!" Methiop joined in. Kale flailed her arm out, managed to grasp his mandibles, and tore at them. He grabbed her wrist and kneed her several times in the chest.  
"Please! Why are you doing this?" Kale begged. She whimpered and thought of the only way she would be able to help. Helpless, she growled in frustration and her eyes flickered green.  
"Bash, bash, bash and crunch, crunch, crunch!" Napapa continued in elation. He squatted down and leapt, launching himself into the air. He held Shosa and Caulifla beneath him and slammed them face-down into the arena floor upon his landing. Shosa clung to consciousness. Caulifla, having already suffered the beating from Shosa, drifted into sleep and the golden energy of her hair faded. The Universe 10 fighter lifted the broken combatants up in display.  
The veins in Kale's face and neck were bulging. Her hair stood on end, she dripped sweat, her arms and legs trembled. She felt her mind being cleared of everything that made her who she was, and being refilled with a red-hot primal urge for one single thing. "Stop. I don't want to... don't make me..." she muttered.  
"Mash, mash, mash. Munch, munch, munch." the sumo wrestler said, tossing the unconscious Caulifla to the floor and winding up a punch to finish Shosa.  
"Crash, crash, crash! What's for-" Methiop sang, and saw Kale's eyes.  
They were islands of green in a white sea, and they didn't suggest happiness on her part. Her hair spiked up, filled in with a glowing green. She tore herself from his grip effortlessly and her muscles rapidly expanded. She threw her head back and gave a maddened roar.  
"-lunch?" Methiop finished as he was swatted into the distance.

* * *

Goku sighted 18 again and dashed towards her, only to have his position reset before he could get close. He went Super Saiyan and tried again but the increase in power did nothing to help him; he was translocated back yet again. For a moment he was going to go Super Saiyan 2, then started thinking intelligently. He put two fingers to his forehead, focused on the any signature of the person 18 was fighting, and was there.  
"Hey, 18!" he said, greeting Majora with a punch in the nose. He was then moved again and the moment he arrived at his new location a pair of arms came from behind and clamped down on him.  
"Hi there," said Universe 4's Nink, squeezing the Saiyan. "Wanna' come with me to Heaven?"  
Goku squealed and noticed a stack of green-blue ki orbs ahead and to his left. They shifted to the right, lining up with him. "Oh, no."  
"Was that a friend of yours?" Majora asked, rubbing his nose.  
"Something like that," 18 said.  
"I hope this doesn't sound rude, but what kind of name is 'Eighteen?'"  
"The kind of name that comes after 'Seventeen.'"  
Majora dropped down, spun one on foot and kicked 18's legs out from under. The Android crouched as she fell, put her arms out and caught herself. She launched towards Majora, readied a blast and aimed it at him. Before she reached him she tilted her hand down, fired at the floor and rode the explosion over her opponent. Grabbing him by the back of his robe in mid-air, she pulled him to the floor and stuck her landing. She charged her Power Blitz and chucked the pink/white sphere down at the prone Universe 4 fighter, turning it into an energy wave as it traveled. He rolled to the left, stuck an arm out and pushed himself up to avoid the attack. He rose and, mapping the area by scent, aligned himself between 18 and someone in the distance. He turned away from his opponent and ran, charging a one-handed energy wave.

"Where do you think you're going?" 18 said, chasing after him.  
When she was close to catching up and could see the edge of the arena ahead she was suddenly moved; Majora was no longer in front of her. He fired his attack into 18 from behind, at point-black range, pushing her back. Taken by surprise but determined not to be moved any closer to the edge, she fought against Majora by pushing herself back with a wave of her own. With his free hand Majora jabbed her in the waist. Distracted, she shouted and buckled under the pressure of the energy wave and was sent tumbling near the edge. 18 squatted and leaped away, speeding up her travel by pushing off with her hands. She turned and went to punch Majora in the gut, but he blocked her fist with his own.  
"You're skilled," he said earnestly. "However, I don't think you're going to beat me. Aside from my scent I don't have any special ability, but along with Shosa and Ganos I'm probably one of the strongest fighters on Team Universe 4."  
There was a pause. 18 faked a punch with her other hand and he prepared to catch it. Before their blows connected she shot a wide, white beam from each eye into his face. While he was recovering she kicked him pulled him down by his ears, elbowed him in the side. She jumped behind him and blasted him in the back, but he was able to grab her arm just after and prevent himself from being pushed away by the blast.  
"You're reacting to my movements pretty quickly now," 18 pointed out. "Is that your sense of smell at work?"  
Majora chuckled, turned around, pulled her arm up and twisted it. She flicked her wrist down and shot several little blasts at his arm, he let go. She jumped into the air, pulled a shoe off, and threw a Kienzan down at her opponent. When he jumped over it she tossed the shoe at his face. He shook his head and punched the empty space in front of him with a grimace. The Android kicked him in the stomach as she landed, launching him near the edge. He shot a beam which missed and went over her leg. She then fired her Infinity Bullet for several seconds, hitting him with a swarm of blue elliptical blasts. When she finished his sense of smell had recovered but he had been pushed off the arena and was now hanging on. 18 stepped on and grinded her heel against his hands, but he refused to let go. She kicked at his fingers with her toes, prying them off. Majora grabbed her foot and, knowing he wouldn't be able to get back in the arena, swiftly twisted it at an uncomfortable angle. Her ankle popped and she shook her opponent off with a cry of pain.

Majora appeared in the stands. "Damnit, Majora!" Quitela said, sighing loudly. "You shouldn't have blabbered about your sense of smell so much..."  
"I am sorry for my defeat," the Universe 4 fighter said solemnly. "It's strange. Her energy attacks were relentless, as if she always had more power to put into them."Kuru's expression suggested little more than mild interest. "Well," he said, "at least you damaged her a little bit. She should be easier to defeat, now."Goku's face and hair were scorched and he fought in Nink's crushing grip as he was carried to the edge of the arena. Beerus shouted at him to not let his guard down around Team Universe 4 and he better not get eliminated. Quitela laughed and cheered for 'Push-and-Pull' to throw the Saiyan off the arena. When Nink was a few steps from the edge Goku threw his head back and screamed, transforming to Super Saiyan Blue. Nink turned and was about to spin and launch Goku, but the Saiyan broke from his hold and shoved his opponent out the arena. Nink put a hand in front of himself with the palm facing in, and moved it outward. He was no longer falling from the arena; he was behind Goku now and wound up a kick.  
"I knew it!" Goku said, performing a backflip the moment Nink left his sight. He landed behind Nink, grabbed his opponent's leg that was still on the floor and pulled. Nink fell on his face. "You're the guy who kept movin' me around; you can do it to yourself, too."  
Nink got up and ran away from the edge. "That's a powerful transformation you have there," he said, lifting a hand. "But, that's right. I'm 'Push-and-Pull' Nink."  
"That's going to be tough to fight against," Goku said, running with him.  
"Yeah. That's the idea."  
"But that ability must have some limits, right?" Goku asked. "Otherwise you could have pushed everyone off the edge right away."  
Nink coughed. "Maybe."  
Goku dropped to Super Saiyan 2 in order to converse energy. Both fighters glared at each other. They hopped away from the edge. Goku saw Android 18 hobbling away from the edge nearby. He took her on his shoulder and helped her walk.  
"I beat him," she explained with a grunt, "but I think he twisted my ankle."

They traveled a good distance away from the edge and she pushed him off her. "That's not good," he said, "but we gotta watch out for this other guy. I think he has the power to move people around. Not, like, in any direction, but bring ya' closer or further away to him."  
Nink appeared with his arm out, palm facing inwards. He stabbed his foot into 18's ankle and she screamed. At the same time he slammed his arm into Goku's gut, who doubled over and groaned. "I'm also a team player," he added, hopping back away, "and have very good eyesight."  
"I assume," 18 said acidly, lifting her foot and shrieking, "he can also move _himself_ _?_ "  
Goku giggled and rose. "Uh, yeah..."  
18 rolled her eyes and quietly told the Saiyan her idea how to defeat Nink. Goku nodded and told the Android how he would make it work. The Universe 4 fighter beat his chest, emitted a gruff, dull-sounding battle cry and sent a barrage of blasts to Goku and 18. Goku batted these away as he charged at Nink, who put on a daring look and brought his hand out. Goku stopped for a moment, but then resumed his charge and extended a fist, shouting "I think you're bluffing!"  
Nink stepped to the side to avoid the punch but Goku jumped at the last moment and brought his fist into his cuirass, hoping to break it. Nink's armor was uncraked although he was staggered a little by the impact. He aimed a kick at the Saiyan's chest in an attempt to swat him down to the floor. Goku dodged, grabbed Nink's ponytail and yanked.  
"How dare you touch a half-orc's hair!" Nink yelled. He snatched Goku's elbow and bit down on his upper arm.  
Goku shrieked, let go and was thrown away by a punch to the chest. He landed a short distance away from his opponent, and to his left. He rubbed his stinging arm while Nink smoothed out his ponytail. 18 launched herself in front of Nink, pushing off and landing with her good foot. She had a swirling green-and-pink cone of ki in each hand. When she arrived, the Universe 4 fighter immediately ran to the right.  
"18, wait!" Goku shouted, raising his eyebrows and pretending to be concerned. Nink had his palm facing outwards and moved his hand back as 18 fired her attack. As he moved his palm Goku touched two fingers to his forehead and appeared directly behind 18.

A look of worry came over Nink as 18's attack widened and moved into him. He was pushed back but fought against it, forcing 18 to plant her foot with the twisted ankle, which she had been treating gently, firmly on the floor. Nink continued getting pushed as she pumped more energy into the attack, he managed to steady himself and slowly bent backwards, careful to not get uprooted, until he was far enough back he could stand on his hands and feet. With his torso sticking up he let the energy wave tear apart his cuirass, travel over him and continue into the World of Void. He stood up, panting.  
"It didn't work," Goku pointed out.  
18 breathed in through her nose. "No," she agreed, massaging her ankle, "it didn't. And he now knows about your Instant Transmission. However, now _we_ know how long he has to go before using his ability again."  
They came up with a new plan. It had to work a specific way and it came down to positioning. 18 wasn't sure if Nink would be stupid enough to eliminate himself, but Goku was confident it would work. They rushed towards him and forced him further back with a series of strikes, not allowing him any room to fight back and staying horizontal from each other so Nink and them would not be in a straight line. Once they were near the edge Goku put himself a short distance behind Nink and 18 jumped back towards the center of the arena. Both of them formed a shield around their back and prepared an energy wave, Goku using his signature Kamehameha.  
"You can't move us to trick us into attacking each other!" they said.  
I won't be moving you, Nink thought smugly, put a hand out and pulled it back, planning to move himself behind Goku. As he did this Goku used his Instant Transmission to travel to 18, then used it again to go back to Nink, only a little further behind him. His target's position having changed at the last moment, Nink translocated backwards relative to Goku and appeared out of the arena. He looked beneath him, fell, and appeared in the stands.  
Quitela facepalmed. "Nink, you eliminated yourself."  
"The plan has failed," the Universe 4 fighter agreed matter-of-factly.  
"You fought well," Majora said. "Thanks for helping out in my battle, as well."


End file.
